Report: 100% of tested smartwatches exhibit security flaws

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HP report finds a majority of smartwatches to have insufficient authentication, lack of encryption and privacy concerns.

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While wearable technology continues to increase in popularity, it appears that embedded security may have been left behind. That is according to new research conducted by HP, which discovered serious vulnerabilities in a vast majority of today’s most popular wrist-adorned timekeeping devices.

Without question, the wearables space has experienced tremendous growth over the last couple of months, with analysts now projecting the space to surge upwards of 150 million units by 2019. However, as smartwatches like the Apple Watch, the Motorola Moto 360 and the Samsung Gear become mainstream, malicious hackers have found a new entry point for consumers’ most valuable and confidential data.

For its “Smartwatch Security Study,” HP combined manual testing along with the use of digital tools and its HP Fortify on Demand methodology to evaluate 10 of what they believe to be today’s “top” gadgets. The team found many of the devices to be susceptible because they simply lacked basic, industry standard security measures. While the results may be disappointing, they are not too surprising given the latest string of hacks and breaches.

“Smartwatches have only just started to become a part of our lives, but they deliver a new level of functionality that could potentially open the door to new threats to sensitive information and activities,” explained Jason Schmitt, general manager of HP Security, Fortify. “As the adoption of smartwatches accelerates, the platform will become vastly more attractive to those who would abuse that access, making it critical that we take precautions when transmitting personal data or connecting smartwatches into corporate networks.”

Topping the list of flaws included insufficient verification, lack of encryption, insecure web interfaces and other privacy concerns. Not only did every tested unit lack a two-factor authentication process and the ability to lock out accounts after three to five failed password attempts, but the company flagged as many as 30% of the wearables to be vulnerable to account harvesting, a technique where an attacker could gain access to the device and data using a combination of weak password policy, lack of account lockout and user enumeration.

Additionally, researchers uncovered that the devices demonstrated a lack of transport encryption protocols. While each of them implemented encryption using SSL/TLS, 40% of the watches remained defenseless to known vulnerabilities such as POODLE, allowed the use of weak cyphers or still used SSL v2.

30% of the tested smartwatches used cloud-based web interfaces, all of which exhibited account enumeration concerns. In a separate study, three in 10 exhibited account enumeration concerns with their mobile applications as well. This flaw enables hackers to identify valid user accounts through feedback received from reset password mechanisms.

Making matters worse, 7 out of 10 gadgets analyzed are said to have problems with firmware updates. Researchers revealed that most of the smartwatches did not receive encrypted firmware updates, and while a number of updates were signed to help prevent malicious code or contaminated updates from being installed, a lack of encryption did allow files to be downloaded and looked at elsewhere.

If that all wasn’t scary enough, HP says the wearables demonstrate a risk to personal security and privacy ranging from names, addresses and date of births to weight, gender and heart rate information. Given the account enumeration issues and use of weak passwords on some products, exposure of this personal data is surely a concern.

“As manufacturers work to incorporate necessary security measures into smartwatches, consumers are urged to consider security when choosing to use a smartwatch. It’s recommended that users do not enable sensitive access control functions such as car or home access unless strong authorization is offered. In addition, enabling passcode functionality, ensuring strong passwords and instituting two-factor authentication will help prevent unauthorized access to data,” HP concludes.

Want to delve a bit deeper? Be sure to check out HP’s entire report, as well as explore ways to embed hardware-based security into future wearable designs.

This LED t-shirt visualizes your body movements

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Digi-Weirdo is a wearable project that explores the convergence of identity and guiding communication.

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Zhen Liu just loves data. So much so that it has inspired several innovations, namely her latest project Digi-Weirdo. Created as part of a class assignment at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, the interactive t-shirt was designed as a way to give clothing other roles than merely covering your body and helping to establish your personal identity. Instead, the Maker hopes one day such garments can be used to convey real-time emotions and enhance communication between one another by visualizing body movements through an LED matrix.

Built around an Adafruit FLORA MCU (ATmega32U4), the t-shirt is fitted with a battery for power as well as an accelerometer for analyzing body motions and translating them into a series of illuminated patterns. The LED matrix is embedded inside an inverted triangle that is sewn on the front of the shirt.

As Adafruit puts it, what may be most interesting about this project is that through some simple programming, a wearer can create a visual language of their own. See it in action below!

This device offers safety at the touch of a button

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Wearsafe Tag instantly alerts, informs and connects your most trusted network so they can send help when you need it.

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We’ve come a long way since the days of LifeAlert’s earliest commercials with a helpless Mrs. Fletcher yelling, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” And though technology has certainly progressed over the years, one thing that continues to remain constant is the reassurance that our loved ones are kept safe. Whether it’s a child, an elder or a significant other, Wearsafe is just the platform to help provide you with a peace of mind.

The Wearsafe Tag is a small, unobtrusive accessory that can be thrown in a pocket, clipped onto a belt or worn as a lanyard around the neck. Ideal for just about everyone — whether a frequent traveler, an adventurous hiker or a freshman in college — it’s super simple to use. First, you create a trusted network of friends and family for any situation, and with a press of a button, the one-touch lifeline sends an alert to them in scenarios that may not warrant taking out a smartphone.

The Tag works by pairing with your smartphone via Bluetooth Low Energy to connect with an accompanying app. Once activated, Wearsafe puts the mobile device to work by tracking the user’s GPS location, rate of speed and even recording the last minute of conversations. When pressed, the button will send this information by way of a text message, email and screen notification to the members of your pre-defined network.

Studies reveal that in times of distress, even if your smartphone is taken away, it will typically remain within 35 feet of the owner. With this in mind, the Wearsafe Tag boasts a range of up to 200 feet to ensure you’re connected and able to send out an alert. What’s more, a private chat can also be set up between contacts, allowing them to coordinate responses. Anytime a call for help is transmitted, you will be informed that the alert was successfully sent via a silent vibration, and the Tag offers feedback each time someone opens the message to respond. You can even program different networks for different occasions, like one for home, one for school and another for business trips. This way, depending on where you are, alerts will go to the most relevant people.

The water-resistant Tag houses a Bluetooth Smart module and is powered by coin cell battery that can last about six months with regular use. Aside from that, Wearsafe will soon integrate with other gadgets such as your fitness bands and smartwatches.

“Shortly after launch, you will be able to use the Pebble smartwatch or the new Pebble Time watch to send an alert.  In addition, compatibility with Garmin, the Apple Watch and Android Wear will be available in the very near future.  Our goal is to make integrating Wearsafe into your life as easy as possible. The future of wearables is limitless, and we’ll continue to work to ensure that Wearsafe will work with whatever wearable you choose,” its creators write.

Sound like a safety device you’d like to have? Head over to its Kickstarter page, where the Wearsafe Labs is currently seeking $75,000. The first batch of units is expected to begin shipping in September 2015.

These Arduino-powered shoulder pads make Wi-Fi visible

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Hertzian Armor is a piece of shoulder armor that visually illustrates the ubiquity of Wi-Fi networks. 

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In today’s constantly connected world, there are an infinite number of wireless signals being sent to and from the gizmos and gadgets around us. However, they cannot be seen. As a way to better oberseve these invisible interactions, UC Berkeley design students Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby have created what they call Hertzian Armor — a wearable device that visualizes the ubiquity of Wi-Fi.

The duo first coined the term “Hertzian space,” as a way to best describe the interfacing between electromagnetic waves and human experiences, which served as the basis for the project.

“Our initial approach to this assignment was to create an object that allows us to see the unseen. In this way we could begin to explore how we interact with the invisible world around us, and start a conversation about something we may come in contact with everyday, but not fully understand,” the Makers write. “We initially started looking at alcohol sensors and pollution sensors, two things we are affected by but never see. While brainstorming how to implement this technology in the wearable, we stumbled on a larger goal, how can we make Wi-Fi visible?”

The wearable itself is comprised of cyberpunkish shoulder pads that are embedded with an Adafruit Wi-Fi breakout module with an on-board antenna attached to a LilyPad Arduino (ATmega328P) tasked with scanning for nearby networks. Aside from that, the piece of armor is powered by a 2000mAh polymer lithium-ion battery, while a LilyPad LiPower supply converts the 3.7V from the battery to the necessary 5V to juice up the entire unit.

Meanwhile, a few overlapping pieces of neoprene are equipped with NeoPixel strips underneath each flap that are used to signify the strength of the received wireless signals. The color-changing RGB LED output represents the security or openness of each particular network: red for highly-secure, restricted networks (WPA2), green for less sure, open networks (WPA, WEP), and blue for open hotspots.

“We decided on creating shoulder armor because we wanted a wearable that would be bold enough to display at Burning Man or an event like Silicon Valley Fashion Week, but also simple enough to be worn around Berkeley,” Dunne and Raby explain.

Well, mission accomplished! Intrigued by this wearable project? Head over to its official page on Hackster.io to learn more, and be sure to watch it in action as their prototype illumines in red, green and blue as its wearer wanders through the campus turning heads along the way.

3 “mega secular trends” that will fuel the growth of wearables

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The wearable technology market could reach 385 million people in a few years, analysts believe.

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“Wearable technology will be the next generation of devices to transform how individuals consume and use information,” Piper Jaffray’s Erinn Murphy and Christof Fischer said in a recent note to clients.

In fact, there could be more people using wearable devices than there are people in the U.S. and Canada in a matter of just a few years. That’s because, Murphy and Fischer anticipate that the body tech space will grow from 21 million units last year to 150 million units in 2019 — representing a CAGR of 48%. This surge is expected to be driven primarily from smartwatches and fitness bands. Specifically, they predict that such bands will yield a CAGR of 31%, while smartwatches are projected to see an 82% rise.

As a whole, it is believed that the target market for wearables includes all consumers 15 years and older living in developed nations — which equates to roughly one billion people.

“We believe that tablet adoption is a good indicator of wearable adoption because tablets and wrist wearables do not generally require network contracts and are generally complementary to a computer or smartphone, respectively. For tablets, roughly 20% of the developed nation’s population has a tablet, according to our estimates. This would therefore point to a longer-term unit potential of 230 million units for the category. To be clear, we think this is still conservative given the more accessible price point of wearables (particularly in fitness bands),” the analysts wrote.

According to them, “We think adoption in the range of 20%-30% is more realistic which would point to a range of 230 milion-385 million unit potential for the category with time.”

The firm also noted three “mega secular trends” that will help spur growth in the relatively new market: ongoing health and fitness traction, the “quantified self” movement, and the convergence between brands and technology.

First, Murphy and Fischer pointed to a trend where health and wellness are “at the heart of consumer lifestyles” as global spending on fitness has surpassed $500 billion. Aside from that, trackers appeal to a much greater audience, as they fulfill the needs of individuals across nearly every demographic.

As for “the concept of incorporating technology into aspects of daily life,” wearables will enable users to better record and analyze their daily activity, while raising their awareness about how to adapt a personally healthier lifestyle. The engagement with these devices is coupled with growing online communities.

Last but not least, a vast number of brands are now taking large strides in increasing their engagement with consumers. Among those companies are the likes of Nike, Under Armor, Fossil, Ralph Lauren and Guess.

[h/t Business Insider]

This mask helps you track your sleep and wake up more naturally

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REMzen’s intelligent mask is like a sleep lab that you can bring home.

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Did you know that more than 70 million Americans suffer from diagnosable sleep illness? And making matters worse, this statistic increases every year with the proliferation of more and more sleep disruptors in our lives. That’s because, up until the advent of artificial lighting, the sun was the primary source of lighting. This, of course, meant that people spent their nights in much darker settings.

But thanks to today’s mobile gizmos and gadgets, much our evenings are now illuminated. Blue wavelengths, which are beneficial during daylight hours because they boost attention, reaction times and mood, seem to be the most disruptive in the evening. And the proliferation of electronics with screens, as well as energy-efficient lighting, continues to increase our exposure to blue wavelengths, especially after sundown, thereby causing a disruption to our internal clocks.

As a way to help solve this problem, Oregon startup REMzen has developed a solution that they call RZ|X1, an intelligent sleep mask that doesn’t just help ease you into lucidity and track your slumbers but serves as an alarm clock as well. The RZ|X1 wakes you up naturally using spectral light therapy, at just the right moment in your sleep cycle to minimize grogginess and sleep inertia. In other words, it provides your body with the missing link to the sun, so you can reap the benefits of a properly regulated sleep cycle.

Additionally, the  RZ|X1 monitors the quality of your sleep through REM-cycle analysis. While there are other wearable products on the market today that measure the length of shut-eye, this mask goes well beyond that by keeping tabs on many of the same biological signals that are studied in professional labs. This data is then sent to whichever computer is synced to the device.

With full access to your raw and processed sleep data, wearers can easily discover how to get the best possible sleep and run their own algorithms, and in conjunction with the smart alarm, be awoken on the right side of the bed every day — no more morning misery!

Based on an ATmega32U4 MCU, the RZ|X1 is powered by a fully-rechargeable battery and features a graphical user interface for setting the alarm and viewing sleep analysis. Sound like something you’d like to have at night? Check out REMzen’s CrowdSupply page, where the team is currently seeking $15,000. The first batch of masks are expected to begin shipping in October 2015.

This 3D-knitted onesie purifies the air around its wearer

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One Dutch designer has created a 3D-knitted, Arduino-powered onesie that can purify the air around its wearer.

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Borre Akkersdijk recently made a name for himself with a unique form of intelligent clothing: a 3D-knitted onesie capable of turning someone into a walking Wi-Fi hotspot. As the concept of modularity continues to rise in popularity and evolve throughout the Maker community, the Dutch designer decided to further develop his concept of interchangeable, high-tech fashion with a platform that adapts to one’s location of the wearer.

Akkersdijk believes that the current generation of wearable technology — ranging from smartwatches to fitness bands — isn’t so much something you wear as it is something you attach to yourself. This is what he likes to refer to as “carry-able technology.” His original garment, dubbed BB.Suit, was created in an effort to turn this so-called “carry-able technology” into a much truer wearable form.

This project was inspired by his earlier work on a Wi-Fi pillow that established a positive interaction between a caregiver and an individual suffering from severe dementia. He accomplished this by designing a thick padded shell of conductive yarn, copper wire and internal motors, so that the patients could share their gestures with a loved one holding the other side through vibrations. The innovation prompted the interest of SXSW organizers, who requested Akkersdijk come and show it off; however, he wanted to make a bigger splash than just a pillow.

And so, the first version of the BB.Suit was conceived, which featured electrical threads woven into a 3D-knitted fabric along with a GPS tracker, a Wi-Fi access point and a crowdsourced musical library. Beyond that, a wearer’s location was displayed on Google Maps using the suit’s built-in GPS. Initially conceived as a demo for the SXSW 2014 music festival, the Maker collaborated with 22tracks to allow its user and their community to access and upload songs.

As you can imagine, the initial prototype of the suit caught the attention of mainstream media as well as the organizers of Beijing Design Week. Riding the wave of its success, Akkersdijk returned with a second iteration of the conceptual onesie, one in which would solve a meaningful conundrum. Inspired by the city’s smog and pollution problem, version 0.2 introduces a few additional features, most notably an air purification system. In order to bring this to life, the Maker collaborated with Martijn ten Bhomer from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Daan Spangenberg Graphics, Eva de Laat, StudioFriso and Dutch magazine WANT.

Once again, electrical yarn was woven into the body and legs of the outfit, while the sleeves and hood are comprised of ordinary textiles. BB.Suit 0.2 employs a patented technology called Cold Plasma, which divides oxygen and water molecules into free radicals that then easily react to toxic gases, bacteria, viruses and dust particles to clean air. The air quality sensor is located at chest level and is connected to a hidden Arduino Micro (ATmega32U4), which receives and processes the data from the sensor and GPS receiver. The Arduino also controls the air cleaning device. This system communicates with a hacked TP-Link router running OpenWRT which sends the data to an online database.

What’s more, Akkersdijk sees these projects as the very first step to the ultimate goal for wearables: to enable communication in an organic, smartphone-free way. To make this a reality, the designer is already conducting experiments that use sensor-laden clothing to transmit thoughts and feelings. As its creator notes, the updated suit highlights the opportunities of such next-generational intelligent clothing.

Intrigued? Head over to the the Maker’s official page, or read WIRED’s elaborate write-up here.

These friendship bracelets will introduce more female programmers to the world

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Jewelbots is reinventing the classic charm bracelet as a Bluetooth-enabled wearable that will teach girls how to code.

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Developers Sara Chipps, Brooke Moreland and Maria Paula Saba have noticed that there is an extreme lack of women in the STEM-related fields. And although research has shown that 75% of girls were interested in such disciplines, a vast majority are choosing not to pursue computer science. In order to help combat this downward trend, the team has designed a new product that they hope will introduce the future generation of female engineers to coding. Unlike other wearable gadgetry on the market today, which track steps, count calories and monitor heart rates, Jewelbots are programmable bracelets that enable its young users to personalize and build their own custom features.

Originally inspired by the popularity of Minecraft for the predominantly adolescent male crowd, the entrepreneurs wanted to establish a similar environment for girls that would also allow them to explore their creativity and write their own mods.

Makers begin with a simple IFTTT-like statements on an accompanying mobile app. Once they are ready to advance, girls can plug their device into a PC, and using the open source Arduino IDE, customize their bracelets to their liking with sample libraries on the startup’s website. For instance, they can program their jewelry to illuminate with every new Instagram follower, when they receive a text from mom, their favorite TV show is about to start, or even if there is a change in the weather forecast. However, the possibilities are only limited to the imagination of its wearer.

Beyond that, the bands help keep girls stay in touch with their friends. Connected through Bluetooth Low Energy, the bracelets create a mesh network that lets users communicate with other Jewelbots wearers nearby, even without a paired phone or Wi-Fi. The Jewelbots can blink, vibrate and light up to communicate in Morse code. In terms of hardware, each unit is packed with a BLE SoC, a vibration motor, four LEDs, a button and a battery which can be recharged via USB.

“The numbers of women in computer science have actually shrunk since the mid 80s. At the same time, engineering and tech jobs are growing like crazy,” Moreland explains. “We want to inspire a deep curiosity and lasting love for computers and programming. A love that these girls can take with them throughout their careers and lives.”

As a way to test their theory, the team launched “Take Your Daughter To Hack.” During these daylong, bi-coastal events, parents and daughters (sons, too) were given the chance to devise wearables using the highly-popular Arduino GEMMA (ATtiny85) as well as a HTML/CSS workshop using Tumblr to make fun and engaging projects together. Safe to say, they were a success!

While its prototypes are currently being finalized, the end product will make its debut at the tail-end of summer, with widespread delivery expected to get underway in March 2016. At that time, the bracelets will come in a variety of colors — including pink, green, lavender, red, garnet, blue, teal, gray and back — and will be just as fashionable as they are fun! Interested? Head over to Jewelbot’s official Kickstarter page, where the New York City-based startup is seeking $30,000.

This conductive ink can make your clothes smarter

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University of Tokyo researchers have created a new ink that can be printed on textiles in a single step.

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As the dream of a world with everyone wearing smart clothing continues to become a reality, University of Tokyo researchers have developed a new conductive ink that will enable electronics to be printed on stretchable fabrics.

(Source: Someya Laboratory/University of Tokyo)

“Current printed electronics, such as transistors, light-emitted diodes, and solar panels, can be printed on plastic or paper substrates, but these substrates tend to be rigid or hard. The use of soft, stretchable material would enable a new generation of wearable devices that fit themselves to the human body,” the team led by Professor Takao Someya explains.

The ink can be easily printed on textiles and patterned in a single step. This is made possible through the combination of fluorine, an organic solvent and silver flakes, which when mixed, maintains its electricity even if stretched to more than three times its original length. As you can imagine, this makes it ideal for smart athletic apparel that monitors things like heart rate and movement.

Using their new ink, the researchers have developed their first prototype — a wristband muscle activity sensor — by printing an elastic conductor on a sportswear material and blending it with an organic transistor amplifier circuit. While it may not replace your fitness tracker just yet, the sensor can measure muscle activity by detecting muscle electrical potentials over an area of 4×4 square centimeters with nine electrodes placed 2 centimeters apart in a 3×3 grid.

LG Chem’s reveals hexagonal batteries for round smartwatches

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LG Chem is bringing 25% more battery capacity to wearable devices.

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When it comes to wearables, especially smartwatches, one of the biggest obstacles to overcome so far has been battery life. Given that the devices are adorned to the wrist, size and space are often limited. As a result, batteries are required to adhere to certain form factors in order to properly nestle inside.

Open up any mobile gadget today and chances are that its rechargeable battery boasts a square or rectangular shape. With a restricted amount of space, such a shape may not always be the best option when it comes to a circular watch. This leaves quite a bit of wasted room that could be filled by battery. In an attempt to solve this conundrum, LG Chem has come up with a solution: a coin-sized, hexagonal battery.

This new innovation, which sports a design that allows for it to cover more surface area, reportedly improves capacity as much as 25% compared to its rectangular counterparts. With the charge of most smartwatches somewhere around one day, this battery will prove to be favorable for manufacturers looking to give their device a little more juice and push the boundaries of heavy usage.

Even better, this is only the beginning. LG has shared plans for other unusually-shapped batteries, which include an L-shaped one and a rectangular model with a hole in the middle, that are said to improve the running time of gadgets without compromising their aesthetics. And it couldn’t come at a better time, as reports suggests that smartwatches will make up at least 40% of the wearable market by 2016.

Growing up, we were always told to abide by the “KISS” principle — or “Keep it simple, stupid” — which states that most systems work best if their design doesn’t entail any unnecessary complexities. This also applies to wearable technology, as LG has demonstrated. In order to take these body-adorned devices to the next level, innovation is needed everywhere, from MCU and screen power to wireless and battery capabilities.