Bad actors could gain access to remote-controlled sex toys (Picture: PA)
Sex toys with a Bluetooth connection could be targeted by malicious hackers, new government research has warned.
Technology has become a part and parcel of modern lives – including in the bedroom.
Remote-controlled sex toys have grown in popularity as they allow a device to be used in one location while it can be controlled by another even from the other side of the world over the Wifi.
But the last thing on pleasure seekers’ minds is that an outsider could gain access to their intimate details.
We have been warned of data risks on our mobile phones, but less has been said about the ‘multiple vulnerabilities’ in Bluetooth sex toys.
Now the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has commissioned research into the tech risks of ‘sexnologies,’ finding that these toys could be attacked or hijacked by third parties.
The combination of sex toys and technology has several vulnerabilities which show a ‘clear capacity to inflict physical and psychological harm on to unknowing consumers.’
The research says: ‘Sex toys or ‘sexnologies’, the combination of sex and technologies, have multiple vulnerabilities and attack surfaces, demonstrating clear capacity to inflict physical and psychological harm on to unknowing consumers.
‘Key technical vulnerabilities include their BLE (Bluetooth low energy) connectivity that links a companion app with the smart device.
‘Often these connections are not encrypted, thereby rendering them more vulnerable to attack and/or interceptions from malicious third parties.’
Sex toys weaponised for cyber attacks
Users could be hurt if their sensitive personal information linked with a sex toy is hacked such as names, sexual or gender orientation, lists of sexual partners, information about device usage or intimate photos and videos, the research said.
To make matters worse, cyber attacks could cause physical harm, including overheating the device, it warned.
Future concerns focus on virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) powered sex robots with cameras and microphones as technology permeates further into intimate lives.
The report explained: ‘Future concerns about sexnology increasingly revolve around the capabilities of VR and AI powered sex robots that come with cameras, microphones, and AI voice analysis, all of which will need to be safeguarded against both physical and potential psychological harms.’
Children’s smart toys also pose a risk
It is not only sex toys that could be accessed by malicious parties, the report found.
Children’s smart toys are also often accessible by anyone within the radius without any layer of protection.
Connected sex toys, femtech, different apps, devices and sensors that aim to improve women’s health, and smart children’s toys, are among devices that are ‘under-regulated and thus under-secured’ and ‘collect exceptionally sensitive data and therefore pose a high risk of harm to users, including psychological harm,’ the research adds.
Vulnerabilities of smart children’s toys include device pairing with no authentication, which means anyone within radius with a Bluetooth device could pair with a toy to operate a microphone or camera, it says.
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