Wearable devices have enabled a new approach to monitoring employee health and workplace safety. Because of this, they have made a big splash in high-risk industries, such as healthcare, construction, and manufacturing.
Although wearables have many benefits, they have one glaring weakness. Since they are connected devices, they come with a number of cybersecurity risks.
These risks are often poorly understood. As a result, businesses often adopt the technology without taking steps to secure the devices and the data they capture.
In this article, we’ll go over the cybersecurity measures you should implement if your organization uses wearable devices or is considering investing in them.
How Wearables Improve Occupational Safety
Wearable technology consists of internet-connected sensors and microprocessors that autonomously collect data and sync it with other electronics. It’s one of the fastest-growing subsets of the Internet of Things (IoT) market. Wearables grew in popularity when they became a fitness trend, but since then have become an innovative method for monitoring working conditions.
Applications of wearable devices in the workplace include:
- Smart jewelry, such as wristbands, rings, and necklaces. These are the most common types of wearables and are used to track health metrics, like steps taken, resting heart rate, blood pressure, sleep quality, and stress levels.
- Smart clothing designed to monitor specific actions, like shoes that track walking and running form, socks that can detect developing foot lesions, and T-shirts that monitor breathing patterns.
- Exoskeletons that improve mobility, reduce discomfort, and minimize the risk of injuries in dangerous fields like construction.
- Head-mounted displays used to create interactive virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) environments. This technology has become common for training employees and educating students, especially in healthcare.
- Implantable devices that enable remote monitoring of employees with a high risk of health episodes such as heart failure, seizures, and asthma attacks.
The greatest benefit of wearable technology is a healthier, stronger workforce. A systematic review of fitness wearables in 2019 found that users became more physically active because the devices helped them stay informed and made health a round-the-clock priority.
Wearables also act like digital advisers that heighten awareness of occupational risks and help employees adjust their behaviors. They can prevent dysfunctional movement patterns to improve workplace ergonomics, provide safety managers with data to identify hazards, and create constant learning opportunities. Smartwatches, for example, contain piezoelectric sensors that detect and process vibrations from heartbeats and other body movements. By analyzing those vibrations, these devices can determine an employee’s activity levels and identify unsafe or inefficient actions.
Wearables also support accountability in the workplace. Data gathered from these devices allow businesses to see when employees ignore or violate safety protocols. The added visibility also improves safety reporting by highlighting hazards that are easy to miss. A wearable air pollution monitor, for instance, can measure volatile organic compounds and other contaminants that aren’t visible to the human eye. This makes employees aware of air quality hazards so they are not unknowingly working in an unsafe environment.
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Cybersecurity Risks of Wearable Devices
Although wearable technology helps employees develop healthy habits and create safer working conditions, there are cybersecurity risks involved in using these devices. Here are the main vulnerabilities you should be aware of.
Lack of Encryption
The biggest cybersecurity issue with wearables is the lack of data encryption. Usually, your online activity is encrypted and private if you have a secure internet connection, but wearables don’t have that kind of built-in protection.
Virtually all wearable data collection and communication occurs through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity. Bluetooth is unencrypted, and some Wi-Fi networks are as well. That means your devices might be exposed to unauthorized access, giving people free rein over the data. This can have serious consequences, with data breaches costing nearly $4.5 million per incident and causing many businesses to go bankrupt.
Unsecured Wireless Connection
Another vulnerability lies in the wireless connection between wearables and other devices or networks. Since most wearables connect to smartphones or computers via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, they often create proximity-based vulnerabilities for nearby hackers to take control of the wearer’s devices.
Cybercriminals who gain access to wearables can control them through acoustic interference and create data to deceive the wearer. They can inflate or deflate your activity levels, provide inaccurate information about occupational hazards, and give misleading advice. This level of control can put the entire workplace at risk.
Lack of Regulation
Since wearables are still a relatively new form of technology, there isn’t much regulation around them – it’s up to manufacturers and consumers to keep the devices secure. Privacy and product liability could become major legal issues for companies that invest in wearable technology.
Organizations that suffer a data breach that violates existing industry protocols won’t be able to blame the wearable manufacturer. Ignorance of third-party app policies is no defense, so they will face full accountability for failing to protect the devices.
Insufficient Updates
All wearables are connected to third-party applications with their own software and operating systems. Users’ updates quickly become obsolete because manufacturers often release new device models every year. The longer you hold onto a wearable, the more vulnerable it may become.
While laptops, smartphones, and tablets can last for years with routine updates and patches, wearable devices don’t get the same treatment. They are more vulnerable to cyberattacks because the technology’s development lags.
Unclear Mobile Device Management Policies
In the same light, mobile device management policies surrounding wearables are still unclear. Manufacturers make it easy for users to share data between devices, and many employees bring their own wearables to work without notifying anyone. Employers that aren’t aware of these items can’t implement effective risk management policies.
Banning the devices or restricting their usage isn’t a viable strategy if organizations want to use them for occupational safety monitoring. The only other option is to draft new management policies, such as requiring employees to register their devices. Your business might go through a long process of trial and error before settling on an effective approach.
How Businesses Can Secure Their Wearables
Despite these cybersecurity concerns, companies that invest in wearable technology can make a handful of small improvements to reduce the risk of a data breach. Start by following these steps.
Implement Strict Authentication Protocols
A strict authentication process is the first and simplest step to securing wearable devices. Every item should have multifactor authentication with regularly updated usernames and passwords. You should also add new authentication methods, such as fingerprint or facial recognition.
A recent cybersecurity report from Verizon found that 61% of all data breaches involved exploiting user credentials, and 50% directly resulted from stolen ones. Multifactor authentication is the most powerful weapon against these types of cyberattacks.
Automate Software Updates
Automate software updates to ensure wearables have the latest security patches. However, automated updates are only possible if the devices have backward compatibility. The updates can’t compromise the security or performance of older versions of the device’s third-party software.
Employees must also receive notifications about new updates so they understand their significance. Failure to do so could result in some patches getting rejected, creating a security risk.
Encrypt and Monitor Data Transmission
Moderate data transmission between wearables by encrypting the devices. Many resources are available for commercial use, including the Advanced Encryption Standard and common security tools like virtual private networks (VPNs) and antivirus software.
Even with these additional measures, however, you will still need to monitor data transmission for suspicious activity in-house. Employees must be informed about the dangers of sharing information over unsecured networks and learn how to use encryption to their advantage.
Draft Clear Privacy Policies
Trust between employers and employees is a crucial aspect of cybersecurity. Businesses must draft clear privacy policies that workers can access whenever necessary. One key feature is a mechanism by which people can grant or revoke their consent for data collection. They should also be able to modify or delete their stored information.
Conduct Routine Audits
A routine auditing schedule is the simplest way to ensure safe data transmission and adherence to security protocols. An audit includes sweeping for malware, updating the devices, testing firewalls and other security measures, and addressing vulnerabilities. That includes adjusting employee behaviors if they’re not handling their information responsibly.
Secure Application Program Interfaces
Application programming interfaces (APIs) serve as the virtual bridge between the different apps of wearable devices. They must stay secure to ensure safe data transmission. You should also perform API security assessments to identify vulnerabilities and conduct routine audits.
Develop an Incident Response Plan
If the security measures fail, an incident response plan is your last resort. This plan should include the steps employees must take after a breach: contain the threat, investigate its place of entry, notify the IT team, determine the extent of the damage, and address the vulnerability.
Engage, Educate, and Train Employees
An incident response plan only works if you have a strong workplace culture. Businesses must engage, educate, and train employees to ensure a fast and effective response. Update all employees on how to use wearables responsibly. Notify them about trending security practices or cyberattacks from other organizations so they take the matter seriously.
Wearable Cybersecurity Is a Team Effort
Due to the individualized nature of wearable devices, businesses can have difficulty moderating data transmission and preventing cyberattacks. That’s why wearable cybersecurity is truly a team effort. Every worker must buy into multifactor authentication, data encryption, privacy policies, frequent audits, and incident response plans. One weak link can cause a breach.
Investing in wearables comes with some risks, but a competent workforce can handle them.