Security News > 2020 > July > Smartwatch Hack Could Trick Dementia Patients into Overdosing

Researchers are warning vulnerabilities in a smartwatch application for dementia patients could allow an attacker to convince patients to overdose.

These smartwatches are utilized by elderly patients with dementia who need reminders for taking their medication and to carry out everyday tasks.

This issue allows an attacker - who knows the device ID of the smartwatch - to make a device call for any phone number or send SMS with any text from the watch, spy on any smartwatch, or fake a message from a "Parent" to the smartwatch or access its camera.

While IoT device security issues are nothing new, connected smartwatch privacy issues are viewed as particularly insidious when it affects the elderly and children.

In April 2019, a popular smartwatch that allows parents to track their children's whereabouts, TicTocTrack, was discovered to be riddled with security issues that could allow hackers to track and call children.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/smartwatch-hack-could-trick-dementia-patients-into-overdosing/157352/