Wearables are sinking under a rising tide of cyber attacks, according to security firms Kaspersky Lab and WiseKey, who have joined forces to tackle the issue.
The two companies have put particular emphasis on the fact that smartwatches, fitness trackers, and "payment wristbands" are expected to account for 20 per cent of mobile payment transactions by 2020, according to a report by analysts Tractica. This, they claim, will inevitably mean the devices become an increasingly popular target for cyber criminals.
"Many connected devices and the data they exchange remain worryingly unprotected," the companies said in a joint statement. "This will become even more serious as more of them are used to make payments."
Kaspersky Lab will put its secure software development kit for mobile devices into WiseKey's WIS.WATCH platform, which already provides security software for Bulgari's smartwatch.
Eugene Kaspersky, chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, added: "As the number of connected devices continues to grow, so does the number of threats.
"There's an urgent need to establish and implement higher levels of security for Internet of Things (IoT) devices and we're happy to fork with WiseKey in the development of such a solution."
Carlos Moreira, CEO of WiseKey, said: "This cooperation between WiseKey and Kaspersky Lab represents a breakthrough in IoT cybersecurity [and] opens the door to implementation in other sectors, where the same approach can support a variety of other IoT applications."
The two companies have not yet disclosed when the solution is expected to be available, only that it will based on WiseKey's Cryptographic Root of Trust IoT and NFCTrusted technologies.
