TelecomTV TelecomTV
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Events
  • Network Partners
  • Industry Insights
  • Directory
  • Newsletters
  • Open RAN
  • Digital Platforms and Services
  • 5G
  • Access Evolution
  • Private Networks
  • Cloud Native
  • Edge
  • Open Networking
  • Sustainability
  • AI, Analytics and Automation
  • 6G Research and Innovation
  • Security
  • More Topics
  • Network Partners
  • Industry Insights
  • Directory
  • Newsletters
  • |
  • About
  • Contact
  • |
  • Connect with us
  • 5G
  • 6G Research and Innovation
  • Access Evolution
  • AI, Analytics and Automation
  • Cloud Native
  • Digital Platforms and Services
  • Edge
  • Open Networking
  • Open RAN
  • Private Networks
  • Security
  • Sustainability
  • Connect with TelecomTV
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Sign In Register Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
    • Register
  • Search

Security

Security

Hacked interactive Barbie poses family security threat

Ian Scales
By Ian Scales

Nov 27, 2015

via Flickr © Freddycat1 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

via Flickr © Freddycat1 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Stand by for a steady and growing stream of IoT-related security and surveillance scare stories over the coming years - all picked to chime with the particular phase of the consumer year.  Today of course is the dreaded Black Friday, the day that shoppers are supposed to be whipped into a frenzy of panic and bargain buying as the holiday ‘gift season’ really gets under way.

So today the UK’s Guardian newspaper has a story on the ‘hacked Barbie’. It’s not a spine tingling murder mystery (although it might be) but a salutary look at the potential for the plastic doll  to be wired up and to report back what it sees and hears to an evil genius, no doubt domiciled in a volcano somewhere. Think Toy Story 2015. What a plot!

But the Guardian is serious, as well it might be.

It reports the probings of US “security researcher” Matt Jakubowski who had been fiddling about with Mattel’s latest WiFi Barbie and discovered that it could be hacked. It was, says Jakubowski, therefore capable of listening in to a child and interacting with it in a similar way to “to Apple’s Siri, Google’s Now and Microsoft’s Cortana,” and that means it could be used for all manner of nefarious purposes.

“You can take that information and find out a person’s house or business. It’s just a matter of time until we are able to replace their servers with ours and have her (Barbie) say anything we want,” he said.

The possibility that WiFi Interactive Barbie might be used for sexual grooming hangs over the story, unmentioned but palpable.

“The doll only listens in on a conversation when a button is pressed and the recorded audio is encrypted before being sent over the internet, but once a hacker has control of the doll the privacy features could be overridden,” says the Guardian story.

Of course. And there’s plenty more connected gadget vulnerabilities, and newspaper stories, where that came from.

Related Topics
  • Analysis & Opinion,
  • Cloud,
  • Digital Platforms & Services,
  • Internet of Things,
  • News,
  • Policy & Regulation,
  • Privacy,
  • Security,
  • Wi-Fi

More Like This

Access Evolution

Juniper Networks Announces Cloud Metro Innovation to Drive Sustainable Business Growth for Service Providers

Jul 4, 2022

Security

SASE’s Security Services Edge Market Heats Up 40 Percent in 1Q 2022, According to Dell’Oro Group

Jun 30, 2022

Digital Platforms & Services

What’s up with… BT and Huawei, Malaysian M&A, transparent antennas

Jun 29, 2022

Open RAN

O-RAN Alliance turns its attention to 6G and certification

Jun 29, 2022

Open RAN

Open RAN community needs to focus on TCO models and security: Poll result

Jun 28, 2022

Email Newsletters

Stay up to date with the latest industry developments: sign up to receive TelecomTV's top news and videos plus exclusive subscriber-only content direct to your inbox – including our daily news briefing and weekly wrap.

Subscribe

Top Picks

Highlights of our content from across TelecomTV today

10:14

Executive Interview: Vodafone’s Lucia De Miguel Albertos on the ultimate RAN Intelligent Controller

39:34

Figuring out the TCO of Open RAN

6:47

Dell's Role in Open RAN

4:24

Executive Interview: Neil McRae on BT's Open RAN Plans

TelecomTV
Company
  • About Us
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
Our Brands
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • Great Telco Debate
  • TelecomTV Events
Get In Touch
[email protected]
+44 (0) 207 448 1070
Connect With Us
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Terms of Use
  • Legal Notices
  • Help

TelecomTV is produced by the team at Decisive Media.

© Decisive Media Limited 2022. All rights reserved. All brands and products are the trademarks of their respective holder(s).