From the «like Fembots but not as sexy» department:
Title: Weaponising a teddy bear
Author: Janina Ander
Date: Fri, 19 May 2017 10:42:59 -0400
Link: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/weaponising-teddy-bear/

At primary school, I loved my Tamagotchi: it moved, it beeped, it was almost
like I could talk to it! Nowadays, kids can actually have conversations with
their toys, and some toys are IoT devices, capable of accessing online services
or of interacting with people via the Internet. And so to one of this week’s
news stories: using a Raspberry Pi, an eleven-year-old has demonstrated how to
weaponise a teddy bear[1]. This has garnered lots of attention, because he did
it at a cybersecurity conference in The Hague, and he used the Bluetooth
devices of the assembled experts to do it.

AFP news agency on Twitter[2]

Eleven-year-old “cyber ninja” stuns security experts by hacking into their
bluetooth devices to manipulate teddy bear #InternetofThings
https://t.co/bx9kTbNUcT

Reuben Paul[3], from Texas, used a Raspberry Pi together with his laptop to
download the numbers of audience members’ smartphones. He then proceeded to
use
a Python program to manipulate his bear, Bob, using one of the numbers he’d
accessed, making him blink one of his lights and record an audio message from
the audience.

Reuben has quite of bit of digital making experience, and he’s very concerned
about the safety risks of IoT devices. “IoT home appliances, things that can
be
used in our everyday lives, our cars, lights, refrigerators, everything like
this that is connected can be used and weaponised to spy on us or harm us,”
he
told AFP.

Apparently even his father, software security expert Mano Paul, was unaware of
just how unsafe IoT toys can be until Reuben “shocked” him by hacking a toy
car.

Reuben is using his computer skills for good: he has already founded an
organisation[4] to educate children and adults about cybersecurity. Considering
that he is also the youngest Shaolin Kung Fu black belt in the US and
reportedly has excellent gymnastics skills, I’m getting serious superhero
vibes
from this kid!

No Title[5]

No Description

And to think that the toys that were around when I was Reuben’s age could be
used for nothing more devious than distracting me from class…

The post Weaponising a teddy bear[6] appeared first on Raspberry Pi[7].

Links:
[1]:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/17/boy-11-hacks-cyber-security-audie
nce-to-give-lesson-on-weaponisation-of-toys (link)
[2]: https://twitter.com/AFP/status/864618559372230657 (link)
[3]: https://twitter.com/RAPst4r (link)
[4]: http://www.cybershaolin.org/ (link)
[5]: http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/345/632/f54.gif (link)
[6]: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/weaponising-teddy-bear/ (link)
[7]: https://www.raspberrypi.org (link)

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