A student has managed to jailbreak Microsoft Band 1
Microsoft is already working on the second generation (version 2) of Band, which has become an important part of the company’s hardware collection. The new model is expected to be launched in the next 12 months.
A student in NYU OSIRIS security lab, who is only known as b0n0n, has found a way to jailbreak the first-generation or version 1 of Microsoft Band. Given as a school project, he figured out how the Band client software communicated. It also paves the way for “third-party” improvements that could be added by the developer community.
As he describes in a post on his blog, his jailbreaking method essentially allows for serving the Microsoft Band a modified update file, which could principally mean that the device might acquire some other functionality that’s filled into custom binary files.
The procedure involves numerous steps that b0n0n has devised and he has provided a recipe for modifying any of the code and data in Band 1 update to whatever you want on his blog. For more details, the readers can visit his blog post. However, the procedure is not of much help, as it is basically the initial step towards breaking into the Microsoft Band.
b0n0n has only tested this against the Band 1, but says it should work the same with Band 2, since it’s based on the same update system.
“I have not bought a Microsoft fitness band 2 to test if the jailbreak will work on it yet. For people who are interested in looking into this further, there is an interesting function in the fitness band windows client, but you need to unblock it first!” he concluded.
Thanks to third-party apps, Microsoft’s Band is already receiving the new functionality, which will hopefully make way for an even more advanced third generation with such enhancements. Recently, a third-party app has been made available in the store that allows Tesla Model S owners to control certain features of their cars from the Band, including checking battery status or locking and unlocking doors.
