Samsung, LG Smartwatches Give Up Personal Data To Researchers 46
An anonymous reader sends word that security researchers have been able to extract personal information from a pair of smartwatches: the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear 2 Neo. The G Watch gave up calendar information, pedometer data, and the user's email address, while the Gear 2 Neo gave up health data, emails, messages, and contact information. The researchers said it wasn't very difficult to get the data, in part because it wasn't encrypted. "The Gear 2 Neo uses Samsung's Tizen operating system, while the LG G Watch is one of several models that uses Google's Android Wear operating system. The researchers obtained the data both by poking through the watches' files and finding traces of watch activity on the Samsung Android smartphone to which they were linked. The researchers also have begun testing the Apple Watch."
No Shit Sherlock (Score:1)
Really? Fucking sheeple. Who among us Slashdotters didn't think that this was happening? Even if that data is encrypted, it's being used to track the details about you. Now, let's ask how this information can be used against you. Insurance premiums maybe? Establishing alibi? Fuck 'em all.
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It's less about who cares but more about the fact these companies continue to sell our data without asking if they can or at least telling us they are going to.
This also leaves the door open to malware on the phone to scrap up this personal data such as address, email and all your contacts and send it to Sasha Konovalov in Russia.
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If someone wants to dig through my trash, they'll probably find a lot more interesting stuff than this.
Not mine, they won't.
Since a friend of mine got busted in 1992 for growing pot (for his own use only! Oh Noes! Crime of the Century!!! Indicted him FEDERALLY, even!!!), and the Probable Cause Affidavit listed as "proof", some pot leaves he allegedly left in his trash along with some mail in the same trash bag that had his address, I have NEVER placed ANY "identifiable information" (including even such stuff as receipts with even partial Credit Card numbers, etc.) in my trash. Instead, ALL of that stuff (
Was this a remote attack? Did the have the watch? (Score:4, Insightful)
The researchers obtained the data both by poking through the watches' files and finding traces of watch activity on the Samsung Android smartphone to which they were linked.
So, they had both the watch and the connected phone. I'm not really concerned about this. If this was a remote access thing, I'd be a little worried.
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To boot, the Android smartphone which didn't have /data encrypted (which is one of the first things a savvy user turns on)
Well... duh. It is like a researcher buying a car, leaving the boot unlocked, and then saying that just tugging the handle allows an attacker to see what brand of toilet paper you use.
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Well... duh. It is like a researcher buying a car, leaving the boot unlocked, and then saying that just tugging the handle allows an attacker to see what brand of toilet paper you use.
You have a BATHROOM in your CAR?!?!? Wow!!!
That must be one of them newfangled self-driving jobs!!!
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Huh? They had full control of the hardware. (Score:2)
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These researchers had physical control of the hardware in question and were able to extract unencrypted data? That must have been difficult.
You can't do that with an iPhone. Hardware access that's in a locked mode shouldn't necessarily give you access to encrypted data. Oh, in one case at least it simply wasn't encrypted. Health data. Nice.
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Health data. Nice.
I'm not terribly concerned about people knowing how many steps I've taken today or what my average heart rate is. Saying "health data" in this context is like saying "financial data" when referring to the knowledge of what some 10 year old receives as an allowance each week.
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I'm not quite should how they're seeing files on the watch, so that might be interesting on it's own.
To hell with them all (Score:1)
Time to update your watch!
Time to update your computer!
Time to update your car!
Time to update your thermostat!
Time to update your garage door opener!
Time to update your food processor!
Fuck computers!
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Time to update your RealDoll!
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Well there's your problem.... Someone Switched this doll to Evil.
Redundant technology (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Redundant technology (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been wearing one since Christmas (thanks Santa!) and I have to say I don't think I'd wanna give it up now. It's a nice to have definitely, rather then a necessity, but so is my smart phone.
I have the type of job with double and triple stacked meetings 8 hrs a day and it's REALLY nice to be able to glance at my watch and find out where I need to be next, what the dial in for the conference bridge is etc without having to pull my phone out of my pocket, unlock it, etc. Means I'm late for fewer meetings.
It's also a lot more socially acceptable in my office at least to glance at a watch and check to see if that new email your phone is buzzing about is important enough to excuse yourself from the meeting or not. Also being able to screen a call without the fuss of pulling out a phone. Glance at the watch, see it's important, excuse myself from the meeting and pull my phone out on the way is a lot less disruptive.
So ya, it's a nice to have, but it's quickly becoming a high priority nice to have. I miss it when I forget to put it on in the morning (like today) because I have too little caffeine in my blood.
Like every other early adopter device, it's got bugs but it's over the "more trouble then it's worth" hurdle for me at least.
Min
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It's "a lot more socially acceptable" simply because it's new. Smartphones were socially acceptable at first. Same as Bluetooth earpieces.
If smartwatches becomes popular, they will annoy people exactly like smartphones.
No. The reason it is more socially acceptable is because it is unobtrusive.
The act of glancing at ones wrist is far less likely to disturb/distract the other people in the room than pulling a phone out of your pocket, holding it up, and putting it back in your pocket -even when done below the table and out of line-of-sight of the others in the meeting (or movie theatre...) the glow of the display can be distracting.
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\
I want a job where my main responsibility is moving from one meeting to the next under the auspices of accomplishing work.
Where do I sign up?
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Precisely. My job is to run interference for my department, get them the things they need to be able to do their job and keep other depts from asking them questions, because I've answered them at aforementioned meetings.
Actually quite a tough job for an introvert, but I've managed.
That and mentoring the next generation of professionals are my main duties.
Min
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I also wear one (Samsung).
When the Bluetooth is disconnected, it alerts me. This means I left my phone in the house and I need to go back and get it.
When my customer texts me and requires only a "Yes" or "No" while I'm trying to de-plane, that is a real time and annoyance saver to be able to use one of the pre-programmed Quick Replies.
Looking at time is much easier and socially acceptable on a watch than a phone.
The step counter reminds me that I've been sitting too much (I have to access it, but it's stil
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Yes, people buy them by the millions.... You're not impressed that 6.8 million were sold in 2014 (the first year this stuff really went mainstream, with lots of version 1.0 products that will get more compelling as the years pass)?
I have the Apple Watch myself and sure it's redundant -- but that's sort of the point. I mean, in the era of everyone carrying around cellphones which ALL display the date and time, any wrist worn watch is redundant anyway!
The advantages are ones of convenience, primarily. People
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For me, I want a stand alone smartwatch that doesn't require a phone like the old school Casio Data Bank watches. ;)
Physical access (Score:2)
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Remember when the lack of physical access to a computer was one of the many security rings surrounding that computer?
It sounds like, with these phones, lack of physical access is the ONLY security ring surrounding them.
Yet Pebble is safe. (Score:2, Interesting)
The #1 smartwatch.... well actually #2 after the iWatch but it still outsells all the Android wear watches put together, the Pebble is not giving up data.
Plus it is significantly easier to write software and faces for. Oh and that 5-7 day battery life that destroys all other smartwatches...
Well DOH! (Score:1)
Wrong (Score:2)
The unencrpyted phone you paired to your smartwatch gives up data.
kim toan thang (Score:1)