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Today’s connected world horror story from the Def Con 24 event concerns the security of sex toys, with a team of researchers suggesting that the internet-enabled We-Vibe 4 Plus sends data home when it’s being used — and could even potentially be turned on remotely by someone not connected to the sexy Skype chat.
Talking at the Def Con hacking conference in Las Vegas, an ethical hacker of the device said: “The company that makes this vibrator, Standard Innovation, have over 2 million people using their devices, so what’s at stake is 2 million people.
“A lot of people in the past have said it’s not really a serious issue, but if you come back to the fact that we’re talking about people, unwanted activation of a vibrator is potentially sexual assault.”
That’s assuming, of course, the toy is in the range of the user, and not inside the hidden safe.
The privacy invasion doesn’t end there, though. Delving into what the We-Vibe 4 Plus actually does, it seems that it sends the temperature of the device back to the maker once a minute, as well as monitoring the changes in the intensity of the vibration.
In a statement, Standard Innovation said the sensitive info was collated for “market research purposes, so that we can better understand what settings and levels of intensity are most enjoyed”.
Agencies/Canadajournal
