‘Hello Barbie’ doll can be hacked, researcher warns by Andrew Blake.
From the post:
Mattel’s “Hello Barbie” is one of the hottest toys this holiday season, but researchers warn that a security flaw that affects the Wi-Fi-enabled doll is capable of quickly turning Christmas into the creepiest time of the year.
Retailing for about $75, the “Hello Barbie” is perhaps the most advanced action figure on the market: between being Wi-Fi-ready and equipped with speech recognition technology, Mattel claims the doll “can interact uniquely with each child by holding conversations, playing games, sharing stories and even telling jokes.”
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Take every occasion to teach your children to be cybersecurity aware.
The new ‘Hello Barbie’ toy is the latest in such occasions.
The moral here is that anything you say out loud, even to a seemingly innocent doll, can be captured and used by those who intend you ill.
Watch for post-Christmas stories of holiday “activities” capture by rogue ‘Hello Barbie’ toys.
Who would have thought Americans would pay for the privilege of bugging their own homes? Go figure.
Update: As of 17:00 UTC on November 29, 2015, a popular search engine reports 9,020 “hits” on ‘hijack “hello barbie”‘.
No sales figures have been reported as of yet.