Fitbit denies its devices spread malware

Fitbit denied claims that its fitness trackers can be used to carry and distribute malware and said their devices are safe.

Earlier this week, Fortinet researcher Axelle Apvrille did a presentation on a proof of concept vulnerability in FitBit Fitness trackers can be exploited to carry malware capable of infecting PCs.

Maik Morgenstern, CEO at security firm AV-TEST,  told NBC News the bug should be fixed but said, "I don't see any real-world relevance from a security point of view". 

He added it would take a very small Trojan and vulnerabilities in the synced operating system to make infection possible.

"Fitbit trackers cannot be used to infect user's devices with malware. We want to reassure our users that it remains safe to use their Fitbit devices and no action is required," a spokesperson told SCMagazine.com in an emailed statement.

Apvrille said she didn't think it was an issue in a series of tweet on 21 October. Fortinet said their researcher “refrained from publishing key details” and the methodologies employed in order to ensure that the vulnerabilities could not be exploited in an 22 October statement.  

This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com