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$17 smartwatch sending data back to China shows perils of buying unknown brands [Video]

A $17 smartwatch sold on eBay that pairs to both Android and iOS devices was found by a security researcher to be sending data back to an unidentified serve in China, reports The Register.

Mobile Iron research director Michael Raggo told the BSides San Francisco conference the watch is a threat to individual and enterprise security.

“We ran dynamic and behavioural analysis (on the pairing app) and discovered that when it was paired, it started communicating outbound over a random IP address to China,” Raggo said.

Buyers may have gotten a slight clue that it wasn’t the most secure device in the world when they were advised to download a pairing app from an IP address handwritten on a piece of paper that comes with the u8 watch.

It does, though, underline the risks of putting your data onto a device purchased from an unknown brand. You can watch a video of the presentation below.

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