Strangers Can Talk to Your Kids Through ‘Connected’ Toys
A consumer group is urging major retailers to withdraw a number of “connected” or “intelligent” toys likely to be popular at Christmas, after finding security failures that it warns could put children’s safety at risk.
Tests carried out by Which? with the German consumer group Stiftung Warentest, and other security research experts, found flaws in Bluetooth and wifi-enabled toys that could enable a stranger to talk to a child.
The investigation found that four out of seven of the tested toys could be used to communicate with the children playing with them. Security failures were discovered in the Furby Connect, i-Que Intelligent Robot, Toy-Fi Teddy and CloudPets.
With each of these toys, the Bluetooth connection had not been secured, meaning the researcher did not need a password, pin or any other authentication to gain access. Little technical knowhow was needed to hack into the toys to start sharing messages with a child.
When switched on, the Furby Connect – on sale at Argos, Amazon, Smyths and Toys R Us – could be connected with any device within a Bluetooth range of 10 to 30 metres. (Read more from “Strangers Can Talk to Your Kids Through ‘Connected’ Toys” HERE)
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