VTech Kidizoom Smartwatch and InnoTab Tablet Hack: Digital Toys for Kids Breach Uncovers Child Identity Theft Risk [VIDEO]
Hackers who breached VTech digital products for kids this month helped to expose the lack of tight online security in mobile devices designed for children. As Reuters reports, parents may have exposed their child to identity theft by giving them a VTech brand digital toy including the VTech Kidizoom Smartwatch or InnoTab tablet. According to Hong-Kong based VTech, the personal information of over 6 million children were stolen by hackers.
Cyber criminals can exploit the fresh credit slates of children well into their teens without them even knowing say online security experts. "Kids have a longer life in front of them and they have completely clean credit, which makes them more valuable," Tom Kellermann, chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro Inc. said.
There's a lot of data and sensitive information in children's digital toys that connect to the Internet like the VTech Kidizoom watch and much weaker security in comparison to standard computer products. When signing up for accounts to download and install updates and apps including games and books, purchasers of VTech products are encouraged to provide personal information including their names, addresses and birthdates. "The last thing you would ever imagine is that a toy manufacturer would lose your child's identity," Liam O'Murchu, researcher at Symantec Corp, told Reuters.
UK-based company, Juniper Research estimates that production and shipments of digital toys that connect to the internet will increase 200 percent over the next five years. Data gathering toys such as VTech's cameras, smartwatches and tablets will rise by 58 percent each according to a forecast from Juniper.
While the motive for the compromising attack on VTech is unclear at this time, security experts say the breach serves as a warning for parents. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is involved in the probe and is looking into how VTech treats the personal information it collects from children under the age of 13. Rules enforced by the FTC limit how this data is used. Here in the U.S., the breach is being investigated by authorities in Connecticut and Illinois. Overseas, officials in Hong Kong and UK are also looking into the VTech hack.
