1 The Hello Barbie doll is billed as the world’s
first
“interactive doll” capable of
listening to a child and
responding via voice, in a similar
way to Apple’s Siri […] It
4 connects to the internet via Wi-Fi and
has a microphone to
record children and send that
information off to third parties
for processing before
responding with natural language
7 responses.
But US security researcher Matt Jakubowski
discovered
that when connected to Wi-Fi the doll was
10 vulnerable to hacking, allowing him easy access to the doll’s
system information, account
information, stored audio files
and direct access to the
microphone.
13 Jakubowski told NBC: “You can take
that information
and find out a person’s house
or business. It’s just a matter of
time until we are able to
replace their servers with ours
16 and have her say anything we want.” Once
Jakubowski took
control of where the data was sent the
snooping possibilities
were apparent. The doll only listens in
on a conversation
19 when a button is pressed and the recorded audio is
encrypted
before being sent over the
internet, but once a hacker has
control of the doll the
privacy features could be
22 overridden.
It was the ease with which the doll was compromised
that was most concerning. The information
stored by the
25 doll could allow hackers to take over a home Wi-Fi
network
and from there gain access to other
internet-connected
devices, steal personal
information and cause other
28 problems for the owners, potentially
without their knowledge.
This isn’t the
first time that Hello Barbie has been
31 placed under the privacy
spotlight. On its release in March
privacy campaigners warned
that a
child’s intimate
conversations with their doll were being
recorded and
34 analysed and that it should not go on sale.
With a Hello Barbie in the hands of a child and
carried
everywhere they and their parents go,
it could be the
37 ultimate in audio surveillance device for miscreant
hackers.
ToyTalk and Mattel, the
manufacturers of Hello
39 Barbie, did not respond to requests for
comment.
Internet: <
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/26/ hackers-can-hijack-wi-fi-hello-
barbie-to-spy-on-your-children >.
Access: 26 dez. 2015, adapted.