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IoT / Consumer Electronics (Multi-Sector Portfolio)

Payatu IoT Security Assessment Success Stories

Five different IoT devices, a medical radiography detector, a fitness wearable, a wireless dictation microphone, a smart kitchen appliance and a connected security doorbell, went through Payatu's IoT security assessment process. Each engagement uncovered its own path to compromise, from plaintext Wi-Fi credentials passed over infrared to a JTAG port that bypassed secure boot entirely.

IoT Security Assessment, Firmware Security Assessment, Hardware Security Assessment, Mobile & Cloud Security Assessment

At a glance

INDUSTRY

IoT / Consumer Electronics (Multi-Sector Portfolio)

CLIENT PROFILE

Five IoT device manufacturers across healthcare, wearables, wireless peripherals, consumer electronics and connected security

SERVICES

IoT Security Assessment, Firmware Security Assessment, Hardware Security Assessment, Mobile & Cloud Security Assessment

ENGAGEMENT

Five independent device assessments

Key Takeaways

Client – A portfolio of IoT device manufacturers across five categories: healthcare, wearables, wireless peripherals, consumer electronics and connected security systems, including devices such as radiography detectors, smart bands and doorbells.

Problem – Each device needed its firmware upgrade process, wireless communication and hardware debug interfaces assessed for the same class of risk: unauthorized access, data leakage and firmware or IP theft.

What Payatu did – Ran device-specific IoT security assessments spanning infrared and BLE communication analysis, firmware extraction and reverse engineering, hardware debug port testing, and mobile and cloud component review.

Outcome – Surfaced distinct compromise paths in each device, including plaintext credential transfer, replayable firmware upgrades, exposed debug ports and cloud misconfigurations, several of which were fixed shortly after assessment.

the challenge

Why the client called us in

IoT products across very different categories, a radiography detector, a fitness band, a dictation microphone, a kitchen appliance and a security doorbell, all share the same underlying risk: a compromised firmware upgrade process, an unsecured wireless link or an exposed debug port can undo the security of the whole device. Each manufacturer brought Payatu in to assess their device's firmware, wireless communication and hardware interfaces before those risks reached customers.

Assess firmware upgrade mechanisms for tampering and replay risk
Test wireless communication (Wi-Fi, IR, BLE, proprietary radio) for data exposure
Evaluate hardware debug interfaces for unauthorized access

scope of engagement

What was in scope

IoT healthcare device (digital radiography detector) assessment
IoT wearable (fitness band) assessment
IoT wireless peripheral (dictation microphone and dock) assessment
IoT consumer electronics (smart kitchen appliance) assessment
Internet-connected security system (smart doorbell) assessment

Our Approach

How Payatu ran the engagement

01

Healthcare Device Assessment

Analyzed the infrared configuration exchange between the detector and its PC application, recovering Wi-Fi credentials and calibration data sent as plaintext XML, and demonstrated command injection via a crafted XML payload.

02

Wearable Assessment

Found that the companion mobile app decrypted and stored the band's firmware in plaintext on the phone, with the decryption key printed in the app log, then reversed the recovered firmware to hijack BLE communication.

03

Wireless Peripheral Assessment

Extracted and reversed the pairing logic stored in the device's I2C EEPROM, forcing a reconnect to a different dock without physically tapping the device, and recovered firmware by monitoring unencrypted USB packet transfers.

04

Consumer Electronics Assessment

Exploited an outdated zip utility to overwrite the device's admin password file during a firmware update, then located and used an unlocked JTAG port to run malicious code that bypassed the device's high assurance boot.

05

Security System Assessment

Found device data leaking from an open cloud storage bucket, then used a hardware debug port to reach a command injection entry point that reset the root password and granted full root shell access.

Key findings

What we found

Plaintext Credential Transfer (Healthcare)

Wi-Fi credentials and calibration data were transferred over infrared as plaintext XML, and the device accepted and executed crafted command payloads sent the same way.

Insecure Firmware Handling (Wearables)

The companion app decrypted and stored firmware and its decryption key in plaintext on the phone, and reversed firmware exposed BLE characteristics that could be hijacked to send notifications or trigger upgrades.

Replayable Pairing and Unencrypted Firmware Transfer (Wireless)

Dock-pairing data stored in an EEPROM could be replayed to force a reconnect to a different dock, and firmware transferred from PC to dock over USB was unencrypted and recoverable.

Exposed JTAG Bypassing Secure Boot (Consumer Electronics)

An unlocked JTAG port gave read-write access to RAM, SRAM and CPU registers, allowing malicious code execution that bypassed the device's high assurance boot protection.

Cloud Leakage and Root Compromise (Security Systems)

An open cloud storage bucket leaked device IDs, Wi-Fi passwords and firmware update requests, and a hardware debug port led to a command injection path that granted full root shell access.

the outcome

Results and Impact

Across five very different IoT product categories, Payatu's assessments found that the same fundamental gaps, unauthenticated communication, insecure firmware handling and exposed debug interfaces, kept reappearing in different forms. Several of the issues, including the security doorbell's root-level compromise, were fixed shortly after the assessment.

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