http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-vtech-toy-hack-20151216-story.html
By Andrea Peterson
The Washington Post
December 16, 2015
Police in Britain arrested a 21-year-old man Tuesday as part of an
investigation into the massive hack against Hong Kong-based toymaker
VTech.
VTech sells popular toys for young children, including smartwatches and
tablets. The November breach of several company databases exposed
information about approximately 5 million adults and more than 6 million
children around the world, including names, genders and birth dates. The
tech website Motherboard reported that pictures, chat logs between parents
and their children, and audio recordings also were leaked, but the company
has said it "cannot confirm" that data was reached by the hacker.
VTech's systems were reportedly vulnerable to a well-known hacking
technique. The alleged hacker told Motherboard that he attacked the
company and then went to the media to highlight its poor security
practices.
The incident raised new questions about the digital security of toys at a
time when big corporations are increasingly marketing dolls and other
devices that connect to the Internet and collect data about children. This
month, researchers publicly disclosed security problems with Hello Barbie,
a new doll that relies on artificial intelligence and an online connection
to carry on conversations with children. ToyTalk, the company that Hello
Barbie's voice features, worked with the researchers to help fix "many of
the issues they raised" before they were revealed.
[...]
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