IT Security Risk: Smart Clothing

Techwear and smart fashion combine style with advanced technology and connectivity, including AI. Fashion companies are competing to see who can best merge technology, functionality, and comfort. This presents practical challenges: How do you charge the battery? How do you care for and wash such electrified clothing? However, the biggest difficulties are not just practical, as smart clothing faces the same dangers as all devices connected to the internet: They can be attacked by hackers. In their search for cost savings, some companies often overlook or neglect IT security.

Smart clothing harbors security risks

Smart clothing combines high functionality, durability, and modern design with technological innovations: waterproof and breathable materials, built-in LED lighting for nighttime safety, smartphone-controlled heating elements, and adaptive materials that respond to environmental conditions. However, these smart features pose significant cybersecurity risks, as any device connected to the internet, including smart clothing, can be hacked.

Here, benefits and risks are closely related: In the mountains, a smart jacket can not only keep you warm but also save your life by automatically detecting a fall and calling for help in an emergency. Integrated LEDs, on the other hand, make wearers of smart jackets more visible to drivers at night. However, if these functions are misused and can be controlled remotely, the consequences could be severe. What sounds like science fiction is a real risk. Examples show that even seemingly harmless devices, such as smart light bulbs and vacuum cleaners, can be used to infiltrate entire networks.

The consequences are serious: Stolen data can be exploited for personalized attacks, and payment information, such as credit card numbers, can be sold on the darknet for large sums or misused directly by cybercriminals for financial gain.

When techwear becomes spyware

Even shoes or socks can be classified as smart clothing, equipped with biometric sensors that monitor health data such as heart rate, breathing, and muscle activity. But what do you do if a hacked device falsely reports that your heart rate is dangerously high and advises you to click a link for more information? In an emergency, you might not have the presence of mind to recognize such a perfidious scam, and you could panic unnecessarily about your health.

Microphones and speakers embedded in clothing and connected to virtual assistants could also be compromised to eavesdrop on users. A well-known fashion manufacturer has been selling a jacket for some time that connects to a smartphone to make calls and listen to music. However, especially in sensitive situations—such as business meetings where millions are at stake or private conversations—there is a risk that this technology could be exploited to spy on confidential information and users.

The verdict is similarly mixed for other smart accessories. Smartwatches can monitor health fluctuations in older people, detect falls, and automatically call for help. Intelligent prostheses or exoskeletons can help people with disabilities. However, the dangers of these technologies are particularly apparent in the case of smart glasses or contact lenses. While they provide useful real-time data and environmental analysis, they could be manipulated by hackers to distort vision and create life-threatening scenarios.

Cyberattacks can spill over into supply chains

Some smart garments also serve as payment devices and collect sensitive health and financial data. As a result, they make their owners vulnerable to blackmail. In the worst cases, hackers could demand a ransom to restore functionality. Smart fashion may also include GPS modules, which could be misused for stalking, and there’s also the risk of exploitation from built-in microphones and cameras.

In addition, wearable technologies are usually connected to a cell phone or to home and corporate networks, often linked to various cloud services. Without basic security precautions, these connected devices can be the target or a springboard for large-scale attacks on other devices or entire networks.

But it’s not just the devices and their users that are at risk. A successful cyberattack can spread through entire supply chains, causing far-reaching damage. For example, malware introduced into smart clothing could infect platforms, systems, and apps, leading to significant financial losses, heavy fines for data breaches, and irreparable damage to a brand’s reputation.

Marco Eggerling

is Global CISO at Check Point Software Technologies.