German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking fears

Re:German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking f... by alexcroox on Friday February 17, 2017 @08:35AM (#13668138)

What's interesting about this, is Cayla is just a bluetooth speaker. The accompanying Android app is what people have been modifying, not remotely but locally. I think the entire thing has been blown out of proportion. Give anyone physical access to your device and they can do a lot worse than make a bluetooth speaker say some offensive words...

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Re:German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking f... by yorwba on Friday February 17, 2017 @08:59AM (#13668268)

If it can answer questions, then there must be a mic somewhere. And if it's always on and its data can be sniffed, the doll effectively becomes a bug, open to everyone who wants to listen.

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Re:German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking f... by alexcroox on Friday February 17, 2017 @10:33AM (#13668864)

AFAIK there is no mic in the doll, you cannot get responses from the internet without the smart device app, you technically talk into your phone/tablet, not the doll

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Re:German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking f... by tauchunfall on Friday February 17, 2017 @10:38AM (#13668919)

In the text on Netzpolitik linked in the BBC article it says, the doll has a microphone.

>Jedes bluetoothfähige Gerät in Reichweite von etwa zehn Metern kann eine Verbindung zu ihr [der Puppe] aufbauen und Lautsprecher und Mikrofon nutzen. In einem Versuch hatte ich auch über mehrere Wände hindurch auf die Puppe Zugriff.

Google Translate: Each bluetooth capable device within a range of about ten meters can connect to it [the doll] and use speakers and microphone. In an attempt I had access to the doll over several walls.

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Re:German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking f... by phreeza on Friday February 17, 2017 @12:46PM (#13670159)

Off topic: Google translate is getting really good.

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Re:German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking f... by soylentcola on Friday February 17, 2017 @01:22PM (#13670445)

Sounds more like the doll is akin to a Bluetooth headset. It's got a mic, a speaker, and a BT transmitter which provides i/o to a mobile application running on a smartphone or tablet (much the way a Bluetooth headset would operate with a phone).

The mobile application does any local processing and handles queries to remote servers and such.

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Re:German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking f... by _ph_ on Friday February 17, 2017 @08:58AM (#13668254)

The doll is not illegal because it can be hacked, it is illegal because it is considered a clandestine monitoring device. And the possession of those is illegal.

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