BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kaspersky Lab experts investigating the experimental cloud infrastructure for advanced bionic prostheses have identified several previously unknown security issues that could enable a third party to access, manipulate, steal or delete the private data of device users. The findings were shared with manufacturer Motorica, a Russian start-up that makes bionic upper limb prostheses to assist people with disabilities, allowing them to address the security issues.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is no longer just about connected watches or smart homes, but about highly complex and increasingly automated ecosystems. This includes connected technologies for healthcare. In the future, such technologies could shift away from being purely support devices, to becoming mainstream and used by consumers keen to extend the capabilities of the ordinary human body. Therefore, it is critical that manufacturers investigate and address any existing or potential security risks in current products, as well as their supporting infrastructure.
Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT researchers have undertaken a cybersecurity assessment of a test software solution for a digital prosthetic hand, developed by Motorica. The solution itself is a remote cloud system, providing an interface for monitoring the status of registered biomechanical devices. It also gives other developers an existing toolset for analysis of the technical condition of devices like smart wheelchairs, artificial hands and prosthetic feet.
The initial research identified several security issues in the software. These included an insecure http connection, incorrect account operations and insufficient input validation.
When in use, the prosthetic hand transmits data to the cloud system. Due to these security gaps, an attacker could:
- Gain access to information held in the cloud about all connected accounts, including logins and passwords in plaintext for all the prosthetic devices and their administrators
- Manipulate, add or delete such information
- Add or delete their own users, including users with administrator rights
“Motorica is a high-technology, trusted and socially responsible company, focused on addressing the challenges faced by people with physical impairment,” said Vladimir Dashchenko, security researcher at Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT. “As the company prepares for growth, we wanted to help it ensure the right security measures were in place. The results of our analysis are a good reminder that security needs to be built in to new technologies from the very start. We hope that other developers of advanced connected devices will want to collaborate with the security industry to understand and address device and system security issues and treat the security of devices as an integral and essential part of development.”
“New technologies are bringing us to a new world in terms of bionic assisting devices,” said Ilya Chekh, CEO at Motorica. “It is now of crucial importance for the developers of such technologies to collaborate with cybersecurity solution vendors. That will allow us to make even theoretical cases of attacks on the human body impossible.”
For manufacturers of bionic devices and other smart technologies, Kaspersky Lab recommends the following security measures:
- Review threat models and vulnerability classifications for relevant web-based and IoT technologies, provided by industry experts, such as OWASP IoT Project.
- Introduce secure software development practices based on the proper lifecycle. To evaluate existing software security practices, use a systematic approach like OWASP OpenSAMM.
- Establish a procedure for obtaining information on relevant threats and vulnerabilities to ensure proper and timely response to any incidents.
- Regularly update operating systems, application and device software and security solutions.
- Implement cybersecurity solutions designed to analyze network traffic, detect and prevent network attacks – at the boundary of the enterprise network and at the boundary of the OT network.
- Use a security solution with machine learning anomaly detection (MLAD) technology to reveal deviations in IoT devices’ behavior — for early detection of attack, failure or damage of the device.
The full version of the report is available on Securelist.
About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is a global cybersecurity company, which has been operating in the market for over 21 years. Kaspersky Lab’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into next generation security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky Lab technologies and we help 270,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.
About Motorica
Motorica focuses on research and development in medicine and robotics. Since 2014, the company has been developing artificial hand systems and rehabilitation with assistive technologies. Motorica challenges outdated ideas about prosthetic care. The team taught prostheses to communicate with the user, go online, perform voice commands, pay for purchases. In 2018, Motorica launched the development of a rehabilitation platform based on virtual reality and a platform for collecting telemetry via gsm-module in prosthetic devices. Nowadays, people with disabilities become the primary users of the cyber technology market and turn weaknesses into strengths. Learn more at global.motorica.org.
