Cyber Kid Stuns Experts Showing Toys Can be 'Weapons'

  • 16 May 2017
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By AFP on May 16, 2017
 
An 11-year-old "cyber ninja" stunned an audience of security experts Tuesday by hacking into their bluetooth devices to manipulate a teddy bear and show how interconnected smart toys "can be weaponized".

American wunderkind Reuben Paul, may be still only in 6th grade at his school in Austin, Texas, but he and his teddy bear Bob wowed hundreds at a timely cyber security conference in The Netherlands.

"From airplanes to automobiles, from smart phones to smart homes, anything or any toy can be part of the" Internet of Things (IOT)," he said, a small figure pacing the huge stage at the World Forum in The Hague.
 
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I am surprised that they are surprised due to (i) the toys obvioulsy have a chip in them so...ergo...it can be hacked & (ii) given that they are toys I suspect that cyber security has not even crossed the conciousness of the developers...LOL 
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@ wrote:
I am surprised that they are surprised due to (i) the toys obvioulsy have a chip in them so...ergo...it can be hacked & (ii) given that they are toys I suspect that cyber security has not even crossed the conciousness of the developers...LOL 
Does security in toys actually exist? 😉
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Security does not exist in a lot of business printers (apparently), so I can't imagine it being in toys. But if this has a large enough impact I am sure it will have some form of repercussions.  
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Posted by HemantSaxena@TWCN
 
I know that this is not mainline news and could be considered by some somewhat off topic but it does concern the IoT...and is interresting...so I thought...what the hell. ;)
 
11 year old Indian-origin boy hacks Bluetooth devices using Rasberry Pi
http://news.thewindowsclubco.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Cyberninja.png
 
"Internet of Things (IoT) aims at integrating digital devices more with the physical world for the betterment of humans. However, as the technology gets increasingly pervasive, we should bear in mind few concerns. For instance, is the technology failsafe for use or can it be weaponized? These were the questions set to dominate cyber-security conference in the Netherlands where Reuben Paul, sixth-grader genius from Austin, Texas stunned the audience.
 
The boy suggested that things in our daily lives like IoT home appliances, cars, refrigerators or everything that can be connected to Internet-connected can be weaponized or used to spy on us or harm us."
 
 
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