Garmin Fenix 8 – hackers discover exploits to take control of watch

Garmin has been no stranger to the attention of hackers and it seems that, once again, the vultures are circling. This time to gain access to the latest, greatest Garmin Fenix 8.

Hacking History

Back in July 2020, access was gained to Garmin’s ecosystems via its Taiwan factory, this resulted in the entire Garmin Connect web service becoming unavailable to customers for over a week. this was widely reported at the time becoming national news, at least it was on the BBC in the UK. Needless to say, Garmin owners were unhappy.

Last May, I reported that ethical Hacker, Tao Sauvage (Source: Anvil Secure), discovered 13 Connect IQ (CIQ) vulnerabilities, some dating back to 2015. Although discovered on the Forerunner 245, the vulnerabilities are mostly generic and affect over 100 Garmin models including Garmin Edge, Fenix Forerunner and handhelds. The weaknesses were reported to Garmin but no public statement was ever made by the company about it strengthening the security of the 3rd party app platform on its devices.

Latest Hack

The latest hack by Reddit user u/FoulStink claims that the user has managed to take control of a Fenix 8 as it boots up and claims that ‘significant adjustments’ are possible. u/FoulStink interestingly notes that the Fenix’s sensor performance is significantly limited by Garmin to enhance battery life.

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