Expert explains potential security risks of wearable tech

LEHI — This holiday season, trendy wearable devices are flying off the shelves.

While fitness trackers, smartwatches and even smart clothing can make for fun presents, experts say consumers should keep the devices’ potential security weaknesses in mind while shopping. Most wearable devices connect to the Internet or are Bluetooth enabled, meaning they could be vulnerable without safeguards like data encryption and authentication.

Jason Sabin is the chief security officer at Utah-based Digicert, which provides SSL certificates — recognizable as the padlock that shows up on secure websites — for organizations that include Facebook, PayPal and NASA. He said that as an avid runner he likes the idea of a lot of wearable devices, but that as a security expert the lack of protection scares him.

“A lot of these companies are trying to produce these devices, these features on top of their wearables, and a majority of the time they’re actually not thinking about security or privacy for the individual at all,” he said. “For example, there was a recentlypublished study in July that went and actually found that the top 10 smartwatches all had significant security problems.” For the full article click here 

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