Kaspersky: Many wearables and healthcare devices are open to attack due to vulnerable data transfer protocol

Security analysts found 33 weak points in MMQT, a frequently used protocol that rarely involves authentication or encryption.

Kaspersky security researchers announced this week that a popular data transfer protocol used by healthcare devices is full of critical vulnerabilities. Researchers identified 33 weaknesses in 2021, which is an increase over problems found in 2020. Kaspersky reported that 90 vulnerabilities have been identified since 2014. That total includes critical vulnerabilities that are still unpatched, according to the analysis.

Researchers also found vulnerabilities in the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wearable platform, which is also used in many wearable health trackers.

The MMQT protocol is often used in devices used for remote patient monitoring. These devices record continuously or intermittently heart activity...