We recently reviewed the We-Vibe Plus 4 here on Sexpective. It’s one of our favorite sex toys, and we gave it a pretty good review. Two hackers–Goldfisk and Follower–recently revealed that the device can be hacked–that someone can remotely seize control of the vibrator and activate it at will. While I don’t condone hacking of any sort, and I would hope that vendors would make an effort to ensure their devices are secure, my main question when I heard this news was, “Would you even know or care if a hacker assumed control of the device?”
I mean, I have used the We-Vibe with my wife from five states away while traveling on business. It was exciting and we both enjoyed it (I’m going to go out on a limb and say she enjoyed it a bit more than I did), but she doesn’t really know if or when I am going to change the pattern or intensity of the vibrations, and I have no way of knowing if or when the device actually receives and responds to my control. The reality is that a hacker could seize control of the device and take over managing the intensity and pattern of vibration and neither my wife nor I would be any wiser. Ultimately, as long as she has an orgasm in the end, I don’t think we’d really care.
That said, there are some greater concerns about the vulnerability of the We-Vibe. Goldfisk and Follower stressed that there are two million people using the device and that a hacker could remotely activate it. It seems a bit hyperbolic to me, but Follower claims that unwanted activation of the vibrator is potentially sexual assault. That only seems like a valid claim if the We-Vibe is actually inserted wherever it’s user wishes to insert it–at which point it seems safe to assume it’s in use and not just sitting idle, which takes me back to the earlier point that you probably wouldn’t notice or care who is controlling the pattern and intensity as long as there is an orgasm at the end.
There is also the small detail that the hackers only demonstrated that the We-Vibe could be remotely activated or controlled from a short distance–like in the same room. I don’t think there is a huge risk of someone who is in the same room as you while you’re using the We-Vibe not being a part of the action in the first place.
What is perhaps more concerning is that the hackers also discovered that the device communicates with its parent company, Standard Innovation. Apparently when it’s active it phones home to share information about the temperature of the CPU and vibration intensity data.
The company issued a statement in response to the revelation, which states in part:
“We do collect certain limited data to help us improve our products and for diagnostic purposes. As a matter of practice, we use this data in an aggregate, non-identifiable form. Processor chip temperature is used to help us determine whether device processors are operating correctly. And vibration intensity data is used for the purposes of helping us better understand how—in the aggregate—our product features are utilized.”
Viewed from the perspective of wireless security and securing IoT devices in general, the We-Vibe hack demonstrates that we have some work to do to improve security. In the grand scheme of things, though, this hack seems like one of the most benign–possibly pleasurable–things a hacker could possibly do.
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