News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

November 30, 2006

security

Techno-stalkers loving on Nike + iPod Sports Kit?

Posted Nov. 30, ’06, 8:02 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Security

Nike + iPod Surveillance DeviceIf you thought the only risk of jogging with your iPod was getting mugged or hit by a car, well, think again. Researchers at the University of Washington have determined that one can build a device, using commonly available parts, to identify and track people via their Nike + iPod Sports Kit.

The root of the problem is that the sensor part of the kit (the little dongle that goes in your shoe) is both self-powered and broadcasts its ID to anything that asks. So the researchers constructed a number of devices that would grab the information the sensor was providing, up to a range of 60 feet and upload it to a server, where the information was overlaid on Google Maps. The devices in question are also small enough that they could be hidden in various places to provide real-time tracking (for example, in one case, they attached the receiver to an iPod running iPodLinux).

Is this a concern? At the moment, not much of one: a certain amount of technical sophistication is necessary to write the software (which is not being released by the researchers) and build the tracking devices. At the moment, the solution is to make sure to turn the sensor part of the kit off, or remove it from your shoe when you’re not exercising. Granted, this doesn’t help when you are working out. The proposed solution from the researchers is that Apple encrypt the data transmitted between the sensor and receiver. Hopefully this would be a relatively quick and inexpensive fix, so we can all get back to our exercise.

[via Wired News]


Leave a comment

 



Visit other IDG sites: