HP Study Reveals Smartwatches Vulnerable To Attack

As part of an ongoing series looking at Internet of Things (IoT) security, HP unveiled results of an assessment confirming that smartwatches with network and communication functionality represent a new and open frontier for cyberattack. The study conducted by  HP Fortify found that 100 percent of the tested smartwatches contain significant vulnerabilities, including insufficient authentication, lack of encryption and privacy concerns. In the report HP provides actionable recommendations for secure smartwatch development and use, both at home and in the workplace.

As the IoT market advances, smartwatches are growing in popularity for their convenience and capabilities. As they become more mainstream, smartwatches will increasingly store more sensitive information such as health data, and through connectivity with mobile apps may soon enable physical access functions including unlocking cars and homes.

“Smartwatches have only just started to become a part of our lives, but they deliver a new level of functionality that could potentially open the door to new threats to sensitive information and activities,” said Jyoti Prakash, Country Director, India and SAARC countries, HP Enterprise Security Products (ESP). “As the adoption of smartwatches accelerates, the platform will become vastly more attractive to those who would abuse that access, making it critical that we take precautions when transmitting personal data or connecting smartwatches into corporate networks.”

The HP study questions whether smartwatches are designed to store and protect the sensitive data and tasks for which they are built. HP leveraged  HP Fortify on Demand to assess 10 smartwatches, along with their Android and iOS cloud and mobile application components, uncovering numerous security concerns.