Amazon Sidewalk expands your network, but security is already in question

To his Alexa event On Wednesday, Amazon announced a new low-bandwidth network called Amazon Sidewalk that could expand the scope at which you can control your devices beyond what Bluetooth and Wi-Fi currently allow.

Amazon Sidewalk operates the 900 MHz band of radio spectrum – commonly used for radio amateurs – to increase the distance at which you can control your smart devices, said Dave Limp, senior vice president of devices and services during the event . This could have many implications for smart gardens, outdoor lighting and mailbox sensors.

Amazon launched the protocol for the network on Wednesday, but availability is not yet known. The company has completed the deployment of a test with 700 Amazon employees in the Los Angeles area, said Mr Limp at the event: The Sidewalk hubs have sent a signal up to One kilometer and allowed to connect most of the city.

With Amazon Sidewalk, the technology giant is meeting a market need, said Forrester analyst Jeff Pollard. However, the network also raises several security issues.

"The initial concern is really about what all devices connected to Sidewalk are collecting," Pollard said. "If use cases such as home automation or IoT devices use this technology, they generate telemetry data.The connected devices, especially at home, provide a lot of information about your behaviors and activities, which could also go on Amazon with this connectivity. "

For example, everything a connected device needs to communicate with a management console or a manufacturer for support purposes could become "readable" by Amazon – an item on which the company had no visibility before, has said Pollard.

Engin Kirda, a computer science professor at Northeastern University, could also use Amazon to identify individuals on the network.

"The signals, in general, can be used by third parties with special equipment to identify devices and movements of these devices between regions," said Kirda. Whenever a company provides a service involving wireless signals – think of T-Mobile or Google Fi – it can also track users' geolocation and use that information to improve the quality of service. However, it could also be used for ad targeting, Kirda said.

Amazon will need to specify the mode of user authentication, the type of encryption used and the ease or difficulty for third parties to access Sidewalk or use signals to identify devices and users, Kirda added.

Amazon has also announced a smart dog tag for next year, called Go get. If your dog runs away, you can use the Amazon Sidewalk network to help you find it. The idea is this: If Sidewalk becomes a popular protocol, your neighbor's home devices can retrieve your dog's Fetch so you can track it beyond your garden. You will know when your dog is jumping, but you will also see where he went.

But even Fetch raises potential security loopholes, Pollard said. "It's great to receive an alert your dog has left the yard, but these devices could also send data to Amazon, such as the frequency, duration, destination and path of your dog," he said. declared. "It sounds pretty innocuous, but what could this data mean for you when they are combined? These are the unexpected – and unexpected – consequences of the technology and data that it collects." which often end up biting us (forgive the pun). "

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Originally released on September 25 at 11:19 Pacific Time.
Updates at 11:24 Pacific Time: Add more information September 26 at 12:30 PM PT: Adds comments from security analyst.