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Robert Siciliano
robertsiciliano.com/

www.mcafee.com/us

The Hackables:

Smart Watches and Fitness Trackers
Smartwatches and fitness trackers have become tremendously popular over the last several years and are poised to generate major market sales this holiday season.
The real value of breaking into a wearable device is in its connection to a smartphone. With access to a smartphone, a hacker could potentially jump outside the wearable’s application and read emails, SMS or even install malicious software and mine the device for info like email addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, etc. that they can use for identity theft.

Smartphones and Tablets
With new models of smartphones and tablets being produced multiple times throughout the year, these devices make ideal gifts for friends and family who want the latest phone to support their on the go lifestyle.
Attackers can take control of Bluetooth and with some information and trickery, they can impersonate a Bluetooth device and use that to steal information, such as read text messages or dial a toll number impersonating your smart watch, or mine the device for info to steal your identity.

Drones and Camera-enabled Devices
These days, everybody seeks to capture their every move with camera-enabled devices – and even to capture aerial views with gadgets such as drones. According to CEA projections, the US market for drones will approach $105 million in revenue in 2015.
Cybercriminals could steal sensitive personal data from someone looking to connect to an open Wi-Fi network while a drone is flying overhead. This takes advantage of the fact that consumers are often willing to sacrifice security and privacy for the convenience of connecting to unsecured networks.

Kid Gadgets
E-books, social apps and remote control cars – kids love connecting with tech, and while one would hope that children’s toys are safe in every way, there are some safety concerns that parents should be aware of, especially when these gadgets have elements that involve Internet connections. In the past we have seen examples of people hacking into baby monitors or nanny cams.
Unfortunately with children’s gadgets and social apps, security is rarely thought about so it falls onto the parents to make sure their child’s latest toy isn’t broadcasting video or audio to unknown viewers!