Backdoors in Toys
As technology improves, so does toys do as well, with new built in technology, cloud services. The British Government, part of Investigatory Power Bill, if passed, will be allowed to hack smart toys. These bill would force ISP’s and manufactures to allow legal authority to intercept the connection. Where is the safe line.
Yes, this could be useful in kidnapping situation, or monitoring possible terrorist threat. But hacking kids toy to do so? Potentially opening security holes which in wrong hands could be a disaster. What do you think?
“In the context of the Internet of Things you have many types of connected devices … [such as] toys [that] children can interact [with].” Mr. Walker said at the second session on the Investigatory Powers Bill, :
“These devices may sit in a child’s bedroom, but they may be accessible. In theory, the manufacturer of the products could be subject to a warrant to enable equipment interference with those devices.”
“We are moving beyond a world that is just about telephony, accessing messaging services and so on,” he stated.
“In an IOT type world the definitions that seem to apply to equipment seem to apply potentially to a huge range of devices that could be used for communications purposes and other purposes as well.”
“A range of devices that have been in the news recently, in relation to a hack, are children’s toys that children can interact with,” Walker told the committee. “These are devices that may sit in a child’s bedroom but are accessible.”
