ALGEN M.

GABENITE

Individual Exercise # 1: IoT Toys 

The mass deployment and adoption of IoT toys raise real (and not hypothetical) security and privacy concerns.
These concerns arise from the design of these devices, which often include microphones and/or cameras, and the
way they operate, such as their ability to connect to Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi, GPS capabilities, collection of vast
quantities of data about users and owners, storage of collected data in the cloud, and sharing of collected
information with manufacturer and third parties.

Please review the following:

 Maras, M.-H. https://theconversation.com/4-ways-internet-of-things-toys-endanger-children-94092 .The
Conversation (10 May 2018).
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogy7xjEWEpo&t=2s  - Which? Investigates (length: 1:00).
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BnMeyAibes  - Which?  Investigates (length: 0:53).
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXx4TvifNBI  - Which? Investigates (length: 0:58)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkYVSag-uik, Today (length: 4:17)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mODBBmvcrTU  NBC Nightly News (length: 2:02)

Answer these questions:

1. What are the security risks associated with the use of IoT toys?

The risks are multiple, in essence, represent risk that need to be addressed on two fronts. There
is range of vulnerabilities in connected toys that can be exploited to gain access to other segments of a
network. Additionally, any unauthorized access to toy hardware and data can result in a privacy breach.
The four examples of when internet of things toys put kids’ security and privacy at risk are unsecured
wireless connection, tracking kid’s movements, poor data protection and working third parties.

2. What are the privacy implications of using IoT Toys?

With IoT toys, there are several issues. If a toy connects to the internet your child’s data is being
transferred and stored on a company’s server. This can include personal details, images, and voice
recordings.

3. What privacy by design measures could be implemented to secure IoT toys and protect data collected,
stored, analyzed, and shared by them?

To make the IoT toys effective, they must focus on the security issues like, lack of visibility,
limited security integration, open-source code vulnerabilities, overwhelming data volume, poor testing,
weak password. And to successfully secure IoT devices, there are a few things enterprises should
consider. They must employ device discovery for complete visibility, apply network segmentation for
stronger defense and adopt secure password practices. Another thing is to continue to patch and update
firmware when available and lastly, actively monitor IoT devices at all times.