Flaws in smart toy back-end servers puts kids and their families at risk

Over the past two years security researchers have shown that many Internet-connected “smart” devices have not been designed with security in mind. This also seems to be the case for their back-end systems.

The latest example are flaws found in the Web services operated by smart-toy makers which could expose children’s personal information and location.

Researchers from security firm Rapid7 found serious vulnerabilities in the Web application programming interfaces (APIs) used by the Smart Toy line of interactive stuffed animals and the hereO GPS watch for children.

In the case of Smart Toy devices, the researchers found that the manufacturer’s Web service did not properly validate request senders. Through the exposed APIs, they could enumerate all customers and find their toy ID, name, type and associated child profile; they could access all children’s profiles, including their names, birth dates, gender and spoken languages; they could find out when a parent or child is interacting with their toy and could associate someone’s toy with a different account, effectively hijacking it.

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