back to article It's 2016 and now your internet-connected bathroom scales can be hacked

Owners of Fitbit's Aria internet-connected smart scales are being advised to install a firmware patch following the discovery of critical security flaws. Tavis Ormandy of Google's Project Zero was credited with finding the vulnerabilities in the Wi-Fi cyber-scales. While Fitbit isn't providing specific details on the nature of …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Am I the only one thinking it's a good job we don't have ipv6 yet?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Some of us have it already. It's nice, since there's far less trash on it yet, like port scans, DDOS and ... your mum.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        How do you know my mum isn't on it? Maybe she even got allocated an ipv8 or ipv16 address location. You just don't know.

        Mums

      2. Aodhhan

        You're delusional if you think hackers aren't scouring and sniffing IPv6. You might find this hard to believe, but the lack of use actually make it a lot easier. Also, there are a lot of vulnerabilities which aren't being addressed, so it's open season if you don't shut down this service.

  2. Jeroen Braamhaar

    Insecure Default Internet Of Things - also identifies what you ought to think of people promoting it :)

  3. Hans 1
    Happy

    I was in a shop for some scales, the cheapest I could find (no, I do not really need precision) were Bluetooth-enabled scales .... they work without, but you can hook-up your mobe to send your data to a cloud ...

    We do not really care about BMI or whatever, we just wanted scales to weigh the kids ... needless to say, Bluetooth has been turned off on the device ... there is no option, I disconnected the antenna.

    Why people share information like this with commercial companies is beyond me ... the porkies will get contacted by weight watchers or slimfast in no time, for the "one month free special deal" ...

    My BMI is below 20 and I do not really care, it has been like that for over two decades and I am as fit as a fiddle.

    Never, EVER, put your WIFI password into these devices. Hello, anybody in ?

    1. Andy Non Silver badge
      FAIL

      I made the mistake of buying some overly-fangled Tefal scales a while back, they were all that were left in the shop. They were annoying as hell. All I wanted to know was my weight, but you had to step on them then off and back on again to turn them on; then if I had just got on them after my wife they dutifully informed me the difference in our weights and displayed a graph of the changes in "my" weight. To make matters worse the batteries only lasted a month or so. Ended up throwing them away after only a few months and buying some cheap spring based scales. At least they did what scales are supposed to do. The more technology they put in these things, often the worse and more unusable they become.

      1. herman

        The onle problem I see with your networked scale is that it failed to wish you a nice day, play relaxing elevator music and remind you where your towel is.

        1. Mpeler
          Paris Hilton

          Life, The Universe, and the Internet of Things...

          Thank you for making a humble scale very happy.....

    2. a_yank_lurker

      @Hans 1 - It looks like a Wally World run or check Amazon. Given the Wally World clientele is generally not interested in IoT and Amazon seems to carry about everything one might find a basic scale with no connectivity.

      I HATE IoT, imbecilic marketing featuritis that has almost no real benefit except to fleece one of their hard-earned money

    3. Warm Braw

      we just wanted scales to weigh the kids

      Do you have too many to count?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "we just wanted scales to weigh the kids"

        Do you have too many to count?

        I doubt it. At 45 minutes plus 20 minutes per pound he'll need to know their weight.

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Terminator

          A complimentary victory scale awaits you in your bathroom

          The onle problem I see with your networked scale is that it failed to wish you a nice day, play relaxing elevator music WHILE BRIEFLY ITEMIZING THE GOVERNMENTAL BRILLIANT IDEAS OF TODAY and remind you where your PLACE is.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If I were married to you, I'd make your scales say "It's safe to keep eating".

    If I were married to you, I'd follow the advice.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hack it to say "One at a time please" or "No coach parties"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I still like the idea of hacking cash machines to giggle ☺

    2. Captain DaFt

      -Hack it to say "One at a time please" or "No coach parties"-

      Try - "You are large, grey, and fond of peanuts."

      1. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
        Happy

        Or simply: "Ook!"

        Darn, no UU librarian icon

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "Please remove at least two palettes from your load and check your axles for damage"

          "Contact CERN - we've found the missing mass"

          "AAARGH! Gerroff! That's not in my contract"

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Unless

        you live in Denmark!!

        As everyone knows, there are no large grey elephants in Denmark.

  6. nilfs2
    Childcatcher

    Imagine if a hacker hacks my internet connected refrigerator and orders dairy milk instead of almond milk to the supermarket, that would be terrible!

    1. razorfishsl

      Yes... dummy, Imagine a hacker attacks your refrigerator,

      Then uses it as a remote system with updated firmware to attack the other devices in your hovel.

      Maybe your banking browser or router, then leverages your systems from inside your "fire walled" router, maybe goes on to attack some government systems or banking infrastructure from your IP address... and for a laugh downloads some kiddie porn onto your systems.

      What's that dummy, no AV software for your appliances...?

      I have some very interesting work going regarding TV boxes, and before that USB sticks

      but then again ... so do the Chinese.....

  7. Rol

    The Force, with you, it is. marketing force, that is.

    "Hey Dave, how's things? I'm off to the jobcentre and thought I'd pop in on the way for a coffee"

    "DID SOMEONE MENTION COFFEE?"

    "What's that?"

    "Oh, it's my new coffee maker, it was the cheapest I could get, but it seems part of the price is it will shout advertising crap at me while making the coffee"

    "DO YOU NEED A BREAK, I HAVE MILLIONS OF GETAWAY DEALS, ALL AT AFFORDABLE PRICES"

    "Wow, both amazing and annoying"

    "Mmm"

    "Tastes ok though, just gonna use your loo.....Hey a new toilet as well"

    "BUY RAPIDO BLEACH, KILLS EVERYTHING RAPID LIKE"

    "You've got to be joking, another cheapest you could find?"

    "Yes, I think I've learnt my lesson"

    "Any other remarkably cheap, yet annoying new things?"

    "Well, I got this Chrome Book laptop thingy, but it seems fine..............

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Force, with you, it is. marketing force, that is.

      It's not just cheap stuff that behaves like this.

      As anyone who had to put up with a Panasonic TV with adverts in the programme guide will confirm.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    What's the worst that could happen?

    Hackers make you think your diet isn't working by add a pound a month to the reading?

    Come to think of it, that would be kind of funny if someone did that!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What's the worst that could happen?

      What's the worst that could happen?

      That is the most dangerous phrase in the English language. I'd guess it was probably what the inventors of the atomic bomb said before the first test, when they thought they'd just get a modestly big bang and a crater 100 feet across.

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

        Re: What's the worst that could happen?

        Well, for the H bomb that was some fear that it could ignite the atmosphere. They did some calculations, then proceeded anyway. That took BALLS!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: What's the worst that could happen?

          "Well, for the H bomb that was some fear that it could ignite the atmosphere. They did some calculations, then proceeded anyway. That took BALLS!"

          I would say it took insane, sociopathic shortsightedness - and the Castle Bravo detonation proved that to be the case. The story of H-bomb development is one of people who shouldn't have been allowed to play with a box of matches in a sprinkler factory.

  9. redpawn

    Toothbrush next

    This is a great idea. Insurers will love having more data. Your tooth brush could send brushing time and dietary info to the scale to be forwarded to your insurance company. Remember to check regularly for security updates for all your door knobs, scales, light bulbs paperweights etc. You wouldn't want to mis out on all the great new features.

    1. billse10

      Re: Toothbrush next

      "Insurers will love having more data" - but there's one thing they'll love far, far more.

      "Remember to check regularly for security updates for all your door knobs" ... wait, you didn't have the latest security patch installed on your door knobs when they broke in? Oh, but as that's a breach of your insurance policy, we won't be able to pay out. The policy clearly states you are required to install the very latest update within five minutes of release, regardless of what the patch is or does - look, it's here, in the footnote on page 94 - so it's actually your fault we can't pay you.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re:, it's here, in the footnote on page 94

        on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard'

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNmIQX_ImgM&feature=youtu.be&t=75

    2. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: Toothbrush next

      Then ... "wearables" (single use).

  10. Mark 85

    The Race to the Stupid Level is on....

    Dare I ask.... could there possibly anything more stupid than an internet connected scale.. besides a light bulb, that is? Ok.. add coffee pot, refrigerator, power drill, kitchen mixer, and the toilet (loo). Now can there be anything more useless than these that we can connect?

    I guess if I were a miscreant, I'd want these things in everyone else's home and office, though.

  11. Sgt_Oddball

    only another....

    2 centuries until we have such things as the talkie toaster....and I do not want a muffin.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: only another....

      Ah, a waffle man.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: only another....

        Ah, a waffle man.

        No, he's here

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: only another....

          ...he's here

          More like scrambled egg, I think.

  12. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    IoT - Idiots or Twats. You choose

    IOT is also a solution waiting for a question

    Why?

    Why?

    why?

    would anyone connect a [insert IoT device type/name here] to the internet?

    What benefit to humanity is it?

    I do know that I will never connect any domestic appliance to the Internet.

    Nowt more to be said really

    1. King Jack

      Re: IoT - Idiots or Twats. You choose

      Governments and snoopers want it. They will know instantly how many people are in your home. What they are talking about, etc. And the gen pop will welcome this and be happy paying for it.

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

        Re: IoT - Idiots or Twats. You choose

        The Ad-slingers will be more interested in your data than the Government.

        Suddenly your TV shows an Ad for nappies. A few seconds before your granddaughter told you that she was expecting (then in a quiet voice,) a present for her other half to be delivered to your home.

        She's not pregnant but the dumb IoT think interpreted it all wrong.

        Who do you sue when because of some ad slinging mistake a marriage/relationship ends?

        Come on now all those in favour of this crap please tell us this?

        Crap, pure and simple IMHO.

        GTFO of my lawn.

        1. VinceH

          Re: IoT - Idiots or Twats. You choose

          I'm starting to realise that lots of people seem to have cheap rubbish routers that can't cope with many connected devices.

          With luck, it'll people in that situation that will be first in line for idIOT / iOUT crap, and will think the devices are faulty when it's really their router that isn't coping - and the result is that word of mouth then kills this rubbish before it gets a chance to take off.

  13. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Happy

    I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed

    Here's another of those self-satisfied doors. I can tell it's going to open by the intolerable air of smugness it suddenly generates

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed

      Admit it, you have been reading Philip K. Dick again!

      1. Captain Badmouth

        Re: I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed

        "Admit it, you have been reading Philip K. Dick again!"

        Douglas Adams, shirley?

  14. Tom 7

    I have just realised I now love the IOT despite its pointlessness.

    I just remembered a Bob Monkhouse story of when he was in lodgings during fuel rationing and one of his fellow lodgers had a 2CV and kept going on about how fuel efficient it was (in those days it was very efficient) and for a couple of months Monkhouse crept out at night and poured some of his petrol ration into the guys car until his expounding of its fuel efficiency reached epic levels at which point he reversed the procedure.

    I think I am going to enjoy this broken branch of technological evolution.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I have just realised I now love the IOT despite its pointlessness.

      this broken branch of technological evolution

      If only it were, mate! The Internet of tat is going to be shoved down our throats with a rough and shitty stick. Sooner of later most domestic routers will be configured to allow IoT devices unauthenticated access (in the name of "ease of use"), and everything we buy will be "cloud enabled".

      For the technically literate there will be solutions to this dystopian future, but for the masses.....

  15. Captain Badmouth

    Music Hall reference

    Don't put your daughter on the scales Mrs Worthington....

    1. Commswonk

      Re: Music Hall reference

      Isn't that a bit.. sort of... Cowardly?

      1. Captain Badmouth
        Headmaster

        Re: Music Hall reference

        Know-all. :)

  16. Captain Badmouth
    FAIL

    Foresight

    I'm sure if they'd had any idea this might happen they would never have named the company FITBITS.

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