Hacking a toothbrush? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: peter-h
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 01:42:05 pm
content: It probably has TLS 1.2 so yeah easy to hack, especially when with IPV6 it will have its own public IP

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 01:59:02 pm
content: Anyone who would buy an "intelligent" toothbrush is lacking something. I'll wait until they make iO toilet paper. Then, I'll worry.

author: squadchannel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 02:01:05 pm
content: like the BOSCH torque wrench, it will not be long before a ransom is demanded for the act of brushing teeth.(know the MCU, it is not difficult to hack it.)In fact, a electric toothbrush with a motor and nickel battery charging circuit is enough to make teeth smooth.

author: peter-h
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 02:41:33 pm
content: It is possible only if the toothbrush has a wifi client, you give it the password of your home wifi (or it uses some UPNP process to connect, which involves you pressing a button on your wifi access point / router) and you have a "consumer-grade" router (which is what most people have) which supports the opening of ports in the NAT front end, and the toothbrush actually does that.I would be very surprised if Braun did the last bit though. But a hacked toothbrush could, and then it could participate in a botnet, as usual... But who would hack the toothbrush? The user could, by downloading a hacked "toothbrush configuration" app.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2024, 09:45:42 pm
content: Quote from: peter-h on December 04, 2024, 01:42:05 pmWhat features does it offer, that it needs internet connectivity? Posting teeth photos? Keeping log of kids brushing their teeth, so a helicopter parent could stay in their couch? I guess my imagination in that case is insufficient. Of course I ask about features that are appealing to the consumer: because from company’s point of view the benefits are clear.Also, the forum offers attachments. Please use that instead of spreading post content across multiple services. ThanksQuote from: jpanhalt on December 04, 2024, 01:59:02 pmLet people decide for themselves, what they want. Somebody will judge you the same way from their own limited perspective.The problem is not in what one choses individually. It’s in this being a mass effect, that shifts the entire market, in the end limiting individual freedom of choise. It’s like all people voting witht their wallets for “smart TVs,” making it not almost impossible to buy a normal one.Quote from: squadchannel on December 04, 2024, 02:01:05 pmBut look at it from a different perspective. Actors demanding a ransom are doing this illegally and are frowned upon. Companies, who require you to subscribe and effectively only license you devices, are doing the same, but they can do this openly and society thinks it’s normal.Quote from: squadchannel on December 04, 2024, 02:01:05 pmAnd so is a plain, non-electric brush.There never was research electric brush manufacturers have to support their claims. Outside that there is little research on the subject in general, the overall conclusion is there is nonotablebenefit, and any observed positive effect seems to be not from their operation, but from people somehow chosing to brush teeth longer with electric brushes.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 12:59:07 am
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on December 04, 2024, 01:59:02 pmThere is definitely something to be said about electric toothbrushes, they tend to do a better job than manual ones. However, all they need is an on/off switch. None of this Bluetooth, internet connected, app nonsense. All that is bullshit.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 01:29:10 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on February 18, 2025, 12:59:07 amnot that tooth brushing is exactly the same as weight loss, but having an internet connected bathroom weight scale actually has a lot of benefit for someone trying to loose weight. There are all kinds of automated ways to gamify the process once you have the data like rewards, streaks, friend group motivation.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 01:39:00 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on February 18, 2025, 01:29:10 amSure, but does it really need to be connected to the internet? There are plenty of apps out there that track your weight loss goals through simple data entry. But I guess, people are lazy and are willing to spend more money for the convenience of not having to type in a few numbers.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 01:51:09 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on February 18, 2025, 01:39:00 amTwo things:1) Lowering the reoccurring effort and responsibility is important to initially un-stuck some people when it comes to stuff like weight loss. Manually entering weight (or calories) is a barrier, that if you can automate is a bigger win than you may think for a lot of people.2) while it's obviously possible to do everything locally, having web based analytics is infinitely easier and more universal (as a product). .... just open the app on your phone and have all that run by a company. This also opens up a lot of data options like sharing weight trends with your doctor/trainer. Dropping a notebook with 2 years of hand written numbers on the guy isn't the same.

author: peter-h
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 08:00:31 pm
content: That toothbruh app is just a gimmick, but it plays on customer desire to have an "app" for absolutely everything.Phone apps are a bloody nightmare. Android, IOS, lots of testing for screen sizes, etc. If one really wants phone interaction, a website is much better (with a suitable style sheet to work on mobiles) but people want APPS!

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2025, 08:03:00 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on December 04, 2024, 01:59:02 pmWasn't I/O toilet paper the original form, when it output the news and put up with all your crap in return?

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2025, 12:01:23 am
content: This IoT thing is horrific.Not just that you don't need a "connected" toothbrush, but it's horrible how it's getting everyone used to being connected 24/7 for every aspect of their life.The same (if you really think that an app tracking your tooth brushing serves any purpose) could be achieved by local means only (via BT, ZigBee or better yet, NFC). Of course, there's no money in that (or too little), so this all has to go through remote servers potentially thousands of km away. That's great both for privacy and power usage.When idiocy and greed combine.

author: elektryk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2025, 10:55:44 am
content: Quote from: squadchannel on December 04, 2024, 02:01:05 pmThat's curious that these wrenches have Linux based OS...And good practice is to use such industrial devices in an isolated network, a lot of equipment such as PLCs, drives, etc. use protocols without any security implemented.