How To Hack A Fitness Tracker In 10 Seconds
The situation was rather funny when Axelle Apvrille came forth at the Hacktivity Conference which was held in Budapest in early October. Not that there was something funny to begin with, but imagine how you would feel if you saw several people in the room checking out fitness trackers that you would immediately hack. It’s ironic, to say the least, but she demonstrated how to hack a fitness tracker in 10 seconds.
The famous Fortinet researchers proceeded to demonstrate how the bubble in which people surround themselves and which they think it keeps them safe is only an illusion. How to hack a fitness tracker in 10 seconds? Just like that. It is only because of that pesky Bluetooth connection the wearable is equipped with and it can cause major “devastation” if left unchecked.
Apvrille commenced with showing that the data within the wearable could be manipulated as she pleased. Wondering how many steps you made or the entire distance that you covered? No problem, she can make you think you travelled 30 miles less, or extra. She also proceeded to show how she could send a minor payload via Bluetooth, which could easily be transmitted to the computer afterwards.
What can this payload do? Nothing much. Except introducing a small Trojan into the computer. And there is enough room for other viruses as well. With the 17 bytes that can be so easily transferred you can make sure that the person you are hacking is going to enter a very disappointing sporty life, especially if they value it greatly.
Needless to say, Apvrille did not go as far as infecting devices with malware at the conference, but it was a small sample of what she could have done to ruin the experience for everyone there. The basic principle was that she could have done maximum harm if she intended to, so this serves as an example of how far anybody with the right tools and knowledge can go if they really wanted to mess your life up.
Now the more worrying issue relies in the fact that people can actually do this. A try-hard hacker can make you think that your effort is just not good enough or that you might be putting in too much of it. And the psychological pressure can be too much for some of these people if they are worried, or even obsessed, with their image in society.
Photo Credits staticflickr.com
