Your Smartwatch Could Be your Biggest Security Threat

Your Smartwatch Could Be Your Biggest Security Threat

Smartwatches are marketed as tools of convenience for improving everyday activities like shopping and fitness. The wristband technology allows the watch to record your daily movements, monitor your heart beat and can even recognize when you lift your arm to look at the time.

A student at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark has discovered another use for the wearable tech: stealing ATM pin codes and passwords from unsuspecting users.

In Troy Beltrameli’s thesis, titled “Deep-Spying: Spying Using Smartwatch and Deep Learning,” shows a hole in security that’s as clever as it is frightening. The student was able to create an app to capitalize on this gap.

Beltramelli built an app that records the movement data of the Sony Smartwatch 3 and then was able to sift through the data with an algorithm to find important inputs, gaining the ability to unlock a pin-protected phone or use an ATM’s keypad.

This ingenious hack does, however, have its limitations. Users can protect their ATM pin code by pressing it in with the hand that is not wearing the smartwatch. Also, the data needs to be collected by someone in close proximity to the smartwatch. For the student’s test, the data was transferred to a nearby Bluetooth device and then moved onto a server.

The last, and the most important, limitation is that the user has to willingly install the app that records this movement data. This is somewhat easy to overcome by burying such a function in an otherwise legitimate-looking  app.

Despite these limitations, this hack raises the question of how safe these smartwatches are. Recording movement data from the accelerometer and gyroscope is an invasion of privacy beyond the normal cybersecurity risks that people are used to.

The most troubling part about this is if a student could find this cyber security flaw, other less-wholesome types are probably making similar breakthroughs and aren’t publishing their findings in their thesis.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

  • Survey: 54% of Organizations Cite Technical Debt as Top Hurdle to Identity System Modernization

    Modernizing identity systems is proving difficult for organizations due to two key challenges: decades of accumulated Identity and Access Management (IAM) technical debt and the complexity of managing access across multiple identity providers (IDPs). These findings come from the new Strata Identity-commissioned report, State of Multi-Cloud Identity: Insights and Trends for 2025. The report, based on survey data from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), highlights trends and challenges in securing cloud environments. The CSA is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. Read Now

  • Study: Only 35 Percent of Companies Include Cybersecurity Teams When Implementing AI

    Only 35 percent of cybersecurity professionals or teams are involved in the development of policy governing the use of AI technology in their enterprise, and nearly half (45 percent) report no involvement in the development, onboarding, or implementation of AI solutions, according to the recently released 2024 State of Cybersecurity survey report from ISACA, a global professional association advancing trust in technology. Read Now

  • New Report Series Highlights E-Commerce Threats, Fraud Against Retailers

    Trustwave, a cybersecurity and managed security services provider, recently released a series of reports detailing the threats facing the retail sector, marking the second year of its ongoing research into these critical security issues. Read Now

  • Stay Secure in 2024: Updated Cybersecurity Tips for the Office and at Home

    Cyber criminals get more inventive every year. Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve and are a moving target for business owners in 2024. Companies large and small need to employ cybersecurity best practices throughout their organization. That includes security integrators, manufacturers, and end users. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols. 3

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles. 3

  • FEP GameChanger

    FEP GameChanger

    Paige Datacom Solutions Introduces Important and Innovative Cabling Products GameChanger Cable, a proven and patented solution that significantly exceeds the reach of traditional category cable will now have a FEP/FEP construction. 3