Child Tracking Smartphone Security Issues

MiSafe’s child-tracking smartwatches have "severe" security issues and must be discarded, a security expert has claimed.

13:14 22 November 2018

A security researcher has found that MiSafes Kid's Watcher Plus, a location-tracking smartwatch worn by thousands of children, is not safe. A test has proven that the devices neither secure each child’s account or encrypt the data they gather, resulting in vulnerabilities that hackers can use to track children’s movements and listen in to their activities.

 

MiSafes Kid's Watcher Plus, which was released in 2015, uses GPS sensors and a 2g mobile data connection that enables parents to track their children’s location via a smartphone app. The device has also been designed to enable parents to create a “safe zone” and receive an alert if the child leaves the area.

 

Pen Test Partner's Ken Munro and Alan Monie probed the device’s security measures and found that a PC software can be easily used to mimic the app’s communications.

 

Mr. Munro said: "It's probably the simplest hack we have ever seen,"

 

"I wish it was more complicated. It isn't."

 

"Once a hacker has the parent's number, they could spoof a call to appear to come from it and the child would now think it's their mum or dad dialling,"

 

"So they could leave a voice message or speak to the child to convince them to leave their house and go to a convenient location."