6 ms·
Hackers Stalked Me by Hijacking a Smartwatch for Kids
- fhub 2mo agohttps://archive.is/xNU3i https://archive.is/xNU3i
- iamnothere 2mo ago[flagged]
- pavel_lishin 2mo agoHow about your children? How about when they're not in public, but are at home?
- iamnothere 2mo ago[flagged]
- fsckboy 2mo agothe reporter was "hacked" in cooperation with the hacker in order to write the article
- NewsaHackO 2mo agoJournalists have no shame when it comes to making clickbait headlines. Feel like an idiot for falling for it.
- seizethecheese 2mo agoDad was a real newspaper journalist pre-internet and he used to bemoan the headlines the copy editors would come up with.
- Sabinus 2mo ago"Reporter commissions a (successful) penetration test (of cheap Chinese hardware)" isn't quite as catchy I guess
- iamnothere 2mo agoThat’s typically how you show that something is vulnerable before it becomes a real problem. I mean, criticize the headline if you want, but this is pretty standard reporting for this kind of thing. Recent stories on vulnerabilities in networked car systems were handled using the same approach. (It finally got attention, too, even though security researchers had been pointing out the same issues for years.)
- gkanai 2mo agoUntil the Chinese government penalizes these Chinese companies for these insecure practices, they'll continue to be sold as is. China doesn't need to care about Chinese made products sold for export apparently.
- BrtByte 2mo agoI'm not sure this is uniquely a China problem
- sejje 2mo agoCheap electronics with terrible software? Maybe not unique, but they dominate the market. We could sure go a long way if China would start.
- applfanboysbgon 2mo agoWhy single out the Chinese government? No government anywhere cares about defective software. "Engineering" is certainly not the correct term to apply to this industry. [1] Yahoo loses all of their 3 billion account credentials https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732712/000073271217000003/a2017_10x3xoathxexhibitx991.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732712/0000732712170... [2] Equifax loses PII of 150 million Americans, including their SSNs https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/equifax-data-breach-settlement https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/equifax-data-breach-... [3] AT&T loses SSNs of 73 million customers https://about.att.com/story/2024/addressing-data-set-released-on-dark-web.html https://about.att.com/story/2024/addressing-data-set-release... [4] AT&T loses phone call/texting metadata of 110 million customers https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/000073271724000046/t-20240506.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/0000732717240... [5] Change Healthcare loses medical records of 200 million Americans https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/change-healthcare-cybersecurity-incident-frequently-asked-questions/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/c... To someone not drinking your nationalist kool-aid, it looks rather preposterous to make this about the Chinese bogeyman.
- bjelkeman-again 2mo ago
- femto 2mo ago> made by an equally obscure manufacturer, YiQingTeng Electronics, in Shenzhen, China. Is this what is meant by "Shenzhen Speed"? Dump all safeguards and get any piece of crap out the door as soon as possible? This comment isn't directed specifically at Shenzhen, as other parts of the world do the same thing and call it "Move fast and break things." Dropping engineering standards may increase short term profits, but it erodes people's trust in the world around them when everything "sort of works". There's an argument that this low level continuous corrosion does more long-term damage than obvious safety flaws that are serious enough to prompt corrective action.
- bluefirebrand 2mo ago> There's an argument that this low level continuous corrosion does more long-term damage than obvious safety flaws that are serious enough to prompt corrective action. Unfortunately I just don't see much care being given to the long term well being of society right now. Not by many governments, not by many corporations.. it feels like everyone is in a "get rich by any means, fuck you I got mine" attitude. It's really sad
- ryandrake 2mo agoThe Law Of The Land in most lands nowadays is "Take whatever you can by swindling, lying, or cheating. Nobody is stopping you."
- PradeetPatel 2mo agoThere's even a term for that in Hindi - Don't be a sucker (bhookha / bhole). Don't be the person that's naive, easily cheated, and left behind while others move ahead because you refuse to take the optimal course of action.
- bluefirebrand 2mo agoMight as well not have any kind of society or rule of law at that point at all then. Zero trust societies, that's definitely the way towards a better life for all of us
- thenthenthen 2mo agoMeanwhile in China…https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017854 https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017854
- thomasben 2mo agoEven if social popularity has always been of high importance in children’s and teens lives (just pause 1 min and try to remember how you were when aged 10 or 12), making a business of out it is quite sad. What a world we live on…
- Animats 2mo agoIt's 10 PM. Do you know where your children are? We do.
- Markoff 2mo agoIf you need smartwatch to know where your children are at 10 PM you failed as parent, especially considering these watch are for young kids, not some teenagers with phones.
- vladmk 2mo agoIngenious and sad.
- Markoff 2mo agoflagged Hackers Stalked Me by Hijacking a Smartwatch for Kids = clickbait title, that never happened, hacker done it in cooperation with the smartwatch owner
- b3lvedere 2mo agoI do agree it's very clickbaitey article. In the literal sense it was still stalking/hacking, only with explicit permission and cooperation.
- BrtByte 2mo agoYou think you're choosing between 20 different products, but underneath they may all be the same device talking to the same insecure backend. At that point "just research before you buy" isn't really useful advice
- ryandrake 2mo agoBuyer Beware has always been a terrible way to live. It guarantees the shittiest products rise to the top because most people do not seriously beware for every purchase they make. As is always the case, regulation and enforcement is what's needed.
- InsideOutSanta 2mo agoHow are you even supposed to evaluate the security of a product before you buy it and have it in your hands? It's not like there's an ecosystem of outlets doing that kind of work for the hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices out there. And even when it's in your hands, who has the time and expertise to thoroughly review a product for security issues?
- sejje 2mo agoI found this true with security camera & dvr systems. If you're shopping on amazon, you're mostly looking at the same devices and software, sometimes with slightly different styling, versions, and capabilities. Most of them use the same cloud software to connect to the cameras. There's better solutions if you have a bigger budget, or the ability to roll your own DVR solution...but on the cheap end, you're just stuck with this terrible software, chinese cloud, and...at least for me...zero trust in privacy. (I keep mine offline)
- jonahhorowitz 2mo agoIf you want to buy a smartwatch for your kids, or you want to have your kids wear something you can track, but them an Apple Watch SE. It has cellular and GPS, you can call them, you can see where they are, but they can't do much with it besides call you (and people you approve) and text people on an approved list. It's private, it's secure, and it works with the stuff you already have. [0] - https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-for-your-kids/ https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-for-your-kids/
- ozozozd 2mo agoBut note that when you set it up in guardian/child mode, Apple - not your service provider - blocks it from international roaming. Nice little Easter egg for you to only discover when you travel to a different country with your kid, or for your kid to discover alone when they travel! A family size surprise of the worst kind! It works if you get a local sim card. The hardware is there. Just not allowed to roam.
- ShinyLeftPad 2mo agoMy apple watch cannot roam and it's not in guardian mode, it's mobile provider limitation I was told