Fitness Cybersecurity: Risks and Ways to Stay Cyber Fit
Author: Trend Micro
August 3, 2021
Do you work out? Before COVID-19 struck, over 1 in 5 Americans belonged to at least one health club or studio in the US in 2019. As gyms and fitness centers were forced to shut down due to the pandemic, more people have started to do exercise at home. You may want to buy exercise equipment or sign up for online physical training memberships, but please also beware of your cybersecurity fitness. Continue reading to learn cybersecurity risks associated with fitness and how to protect yourself when you work out at home:
What’s the risk?
1. Device compromised due to malware attacks
For example, it is reported that Peloton, a famous exercise equipment company in the USA, had cybersecurity issues with their fitness products in June 2021.
Vulnerabilities were found in some Peloton bikes, enabling hackers to gain access to the devices (Peloton Bike+ or a Peloton Tread) and take control over them. Hackers could then install and run malicious apps in your Peloton bike (disguised as normal ones like Netflix or Spotify), opening backdoor access and spying on you remotely without your knowledge.
Hackers could steal all your sensitive credentials and use them for identity theft. Or, your
camera and microphone could be compromised; your workout could be watched or even recorded unknowingly.
2. Personal information leaked in data breaches
Besides malicious attacks, data breaches also happen every now and then in health and fitness industry. Here are some examples:
- Total Fitness
Total Fitness, a UK health club, has confirmed a data breach in February 2021, exposing members’ banking information including account numbers. Total Fitness stressed that credit card information was not accessed, but there could still be cybersecurity risks – with the personal information stolen, hackers can commit identity theft.
- Town Sports International
Back in September 2020, Town Sports International, a US fitness chain, suffered a data breach, with over 600,000 people’s personal information leaked.
As BleepingComputer reported, breached information included users’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, last four digits of credit cards, credit card expiration dates, and their billing history.
Cybercriminal could send users text messages or emails with phishing links and make them seem more convincing with these sensitive credentials, prompting users to click on the link and stealing further personal information.
How to protect your cybersecurity fitness
- Use stronger passwords.
- Check bank statements, bills, and credit reports regularly to see if there are uncommon issues over your account.
- Never click on links from unknown sources. Use Trend Micro Check for immediate scam detection.
1. After you pin the Trend Micro Check browser extension, it will block dangerous sites for you automatically:
2. Trend Micro Check on WhatsApp:
Send a link or a screenshot of suspicious text messages to Trend Micro Check on WhatsApp for immediate scam detection:
- If your email or other login credentials are included in data breaches, please change passwords immediately.
Use Trend Micro ID Security to find out if your information was leaked in a data breach. Trend Micro ID Securitycan monitor your identifying data and alert you if any of them has been compromised.
Trend Micro ID Security includes:
- Email Checker: Monitors whether your email account has been involved in a breach
- Credit Card Checker: Finds out if someone has stolen your credit card number due to a breach
- Password Checker: Verifies if you have used a password currently in circulation on the dark web
- Dark Web Personal Data Monitor: Scans the dark web for sensitive personal data such as your bank account number, driver’s license data, social security number, and passport details
Click the button below to give it a try:
Report a Scam!
Have you fallen for a hoax, bought a fake product? Report the site and warn others!
Scam Categories
Help & Info
Popular Stories
As the influence of the internet rises, so does the prevalence of online scams. There are fraudsters making all kinds of claims to trap victims online - from fake investment opportunities to online stores - and the internet allows them to operate from any part of the world with anonymity. The ability to spot online scams is an important skill to have as the virtual world is increasingly becoming a part of every facet of our lives. The below tips will help you identify the signs which can indicate that a website could be a scam. Common Sense: Too Good To Be True When looking for goods online, a great deal can be very enticing. A Gucci bag or a new iPhone for half the price? Who wouldn’t want to grab such a deal? Scammers know this too and try to take advantage of the fact. If an online deal looks too good to be true, think twice and double-check things. The easiest way to do this is to simply check out the same product at competing websites (that you trust). If the difference in prices is huge, it might be better to double-check the rest of the website. Check Out the Social Media Links Social media is a core part of ecommerce businesses these days and consumers often expect online shops to have a social media presence. Scammers know this and often insert logos of social media sites on their websites. Scratching beneath the surface often reveals this fu
So the worst has come to pass - you realise you parted with your money too fast, and the site you used was a scam - what now? Well first of all, don’t despair!! If you think you have been scammed, the first port of call when having an issue is to simply ask for a refund. This is the first and easiest step to determine whether you are dealing with a genuine company or scammers. Sadly, getting your money back from a scammer is not as simple as just asking. If you are indeed dealing with scammers, the procedure (and chance) of getting your money back varies depending on the payment method you used. PayPal Debit card/Credit card Bank transfer Wire transfer Google Pay Bitcoin PayPal If you used PayPal, you have a strong chance of getting your money back if you were scammed. On their website, you can file a dispute within 180 calendar days of your purchase. Conditions to file a dispute: The simplest situation is that you ordered from an online store and it has not arrived. In this case this is what PayPal states: "If your order never shows up and the seller can't provide proof of shipment or delivery, you'll get a full refund. It's that simple." The scammer has sent you a completely different item. For example, you ordered a PlayStation 4, but instead received only a Playstation controller. The condition of the item was misrepresented on the product page. This could be the