Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Nike+iPod Sport Kit Reportedly Vulnerable to Surveillance

i think this is just another case of some techs seeing a minor flaw (if that) in an apple product and making a big deal. From the possibility of picking up a innocuous signal emitted from a device, to suddenly it's a security risk compromising our privacy.

Any tech who picks up the slightest flaw in an apple device instantly contrives to describe it as a 'security' problem due to apple's relatively good record on security.

It's a compliment really. No one bothers to go to that excessive trouble with microsoft supported products 'cause they almost certainly contain security flaws.

All these sad losers are falling over themselves to expose the FIRST significant Apple security hole.
 
dguisinger said:
Do you know how many of those suckers would have to be placed to track a jogger running thru Central Park? maybe hundreds easily if they are limited to 60ft.
Click to expand...

sure, make light of it. but do i want to be able to be stalked by every vision-impaired tom, dick, and hannibal who otherwise couldn't follow me within a 60 foot radius? I don't think so.

next some evil corporation will come up with an mp3 player that not only can track you at such close distance, but also--oh, the humanity--send you a song to distract you even more. Think "Don't Look Back," 1965, by the Temptations, or the later version by Springsteen. Sure, we'll listen to our music idols--only to be stabbed in the back.

sign me
"too smart to fall prey to this vicious scheme"
 
So some one can find you by your shoe transmitter if they are up to 60 feet away and know where to aim the antenna. Seem t be you'd have to have a pretty good idea of there to look or the shoe transmitter detecter is not going to be of much use.

In another story, we have just determined that your car has a unique identifier attached. It is in the form of a painted metal plate with embossed and painted numbers. These numbers uniquely identified the car and likely the driver too. They can be read without specialized equipment form as for as 50 feet and with simple optical aids (binoculars) from as for as 100 years. Seems like a huge security risk if you ask me.
 
"Close" Proximity.....Is there any other kind?

dguisinger said:
Exactly. Its basically a very close proximity detector.

What you see here is classic:
1) iPod is famous
2) I want to be famous
3) Tell the media the iPod will help stalkers kill you
4) Profit
Click to expand...


I don't think I've ever heard of "Far Proximity"........since the definition of "Proximity" is "Close to".

So "Close Proximity" basically means "Close Close".
 
I said it yesterday, and I'll say it again today: it's time to hold Apple's feet to the fire. I will add to that today, though: it is time to hold Apple AND Nike's feet to the fire.

It doesn't matter if this really isn't a security threat. Once it hits the 24 hour cable news networks and is recycled every 10 minutes as a story, Apple's reputation has been tarnished. To stop that Apple should come out with a FREE patch as soon as possible so that Apple's reaction will be added to the news story. It's not about security; it's about publicity.
 
swingerofbirch said:
It doesn't matter if this really isn't a security threat. Once it hits the 24 hour cable news networks and is recycled every 10 minutes as a story, Apple's reputation has been tarnished. To stop that Apple should come out with a FREE patch as soon as possible so that Apple's reaction will be added to the news story. It's not about security; it's about publicity.
Click to expand...

Well, it hit CNN yesterday and will probably ripple across the other cable networks this weekend. The question is whether anyone except rabid Apple fans or haters will remember this story past Monday. I'm guessing that's what Apple's PR people are trying to figure out this afternoon.

Do they admit that they made a mistake and release a patch?
Do they rebut the story by pointing out the absurdity of trying to track someone every 60 feet?
Do they just ignore the story and hope that people (and the media) forget about it by Monday?

It'll be interesting to see how they decide to react.
 
Ok, what no one has brought up here is the fact that many university researchers live and die by funding. Somebody paid for this study. Most of this stuff doesn't get done for free. What these wackos count on is that someone will pay even more for the follow-up study on God knows what. Some of the money for this may even be coming out of *gasp* your tax dollars. Go ponder that while you go out for your run.
 
Wooo....creepy. except that the range of surviellance is only 60 ft. That's weird that Nike didn't adress that problem while the product was being developed tho.
 
I might repeating the reply because I haven't read the entire thread yet. But you need to install MS Windows Media Player for the Mac.

Hugh


Eraserhead said:
I'd have thought so, universal probably want royalties when you think about one of their artists.

Back to the topic, if you have to be within 20m, you can see them unless they do round a corner into a building or something, then this Nike+ range would be massively reduced, Apple didn't add security as it's pointless.

EDIT: How do you play those CNN videos on a Mac?
Click to expand...
 
I'd rather have someone track me via a nike+ipod kit than have someone hack into my bank account and steal my card info, social security, tap my phone, etc. :rolleyes:

Stalker : Ooh.. look.. i can track my victim now.. i wonder where he is going with his nike+ipod kit????

(Voice to himself : maybe a walk around the block or at the park.. DUH)

Sheesh.. what a stupid experiment and even more stupid is the concerns of people who are making this into a bigger deal.
 
MacinDoc said:
Are they serious? I can track someone from as far as 600 feet away, just using my eyes.

It would be impossible to spy one someone if you had to remain within 60 feet of them at all times...
Click to expand...

That's true. I'd be more concerned if I could be tracked for several kilometres.
 
This looks like student project and, as such, it was well done. Kudos to them for getting their stuff so widely distributed-- my thesis never made it to CNN...

The problem is that the focus of media attention is going to be on the fact that this is an iPod system, not on the general issue of security in wireless devices. As has been said over and over in this thread-- tracking at 60ft is meaningless for stalking. It's quite useful though in enclosed spaces-- shopping malls, grocery stores, subway entrances and exits, etc. This does give business a way to track people, but without anything but a random bunch of digits, there's no real privacy impact.

Cell phones are probably the most vulnerable to surveillance-- good, powerful transmitters. They're not terribly easy to detect and decode though because of the encoding scheme used. Wifi is probably the most practical but it has a range of about a block.

Encryption helps make it harder to decode the message, but if there's power coming out of a transmitter, it can be tracked. The military knows this better than anyone which is why they designed the GPS system to be absolutely silent-- it only receives so there's no way to find a GPS user unless they want to be found and transmit their position. Don't want soldiers giving up their positions every time they check where they are...
 
this just in: apple copyrights "itrack"

Heh heh. Apple should come out with the itracker and market it to parents to track their kids at the shopping mall, in the yard, etc.
 
Hugh said:
I might repeating the reply because I haven't read the entire thread yet. But you need to install MS Windows Media Player for the Mac.

Hugh
Click to expand...

You're going to want to install Flip 4 Mac or whatever it's called. Plays windows media within QT shell.
 
GorillaPaws said:
Perhaps pressuring nike and others to encrypt this kind of stuff now is a better idea, before it becomes a bigger issue later.
Click to expand...
That's a good point... Maybe the negative press on the little things will get people thinking so we're more secure from the bigger threats.
GorillaPaws said:
Also, isn't it possible to make a bomb that will detonate when it detects a specific signal? If so, this could be very problematic for certain people. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Another good point. Remember kids: if your daddy works for the CIA, don't wear his shoes.
 
Wow... this is the dumbest security problem I ever heard.

...I can also track people down by seeing them and following them. If they're 60 feet away, why the heck would you need a tracking device to figure out where they are?
 
I could also buy a dog and track down a person by sniffing their scent. Don't see the media making a big deal about that one
Click to expand...
Yes, someone should contact the manufacturers and lobby them to use cryptographic techniques to stop this... :rolleyes:
 
I know for a fact that people are tracking me via the Nano + Nike surveillance system. Just today, Lance Armstrong, of all people, "congratulated" me when I finished my run. "This is Lance Armstrong," he said. "Congratulations! You just finished your longest workout yet."

:mad:

a) bugger off, you nut-less butinski! b) don't use your real name next time, you sorry excuse for a Big Brother peon!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back