Remote-controlled sex toys with bluetooth connectivity could be vulnerable to attack by malicious third parties, according to new British research.

Malicious third parties could target remote-controlled sex toys with bluetooth connectivity, according to research commissioned by the British Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

They allow a device to be used in one location while being controlled by someone in another location.

The combination of sex toys and technologies have multiple vulnerabilities, which demonstrate “clear capacity to inflict physical and psychological harm on to unknowing consumers”, the research says.

Vulnerabilities include the bluetooth connectivity that links the device with a companion app, it adds.

Often these connections are not encrypted, thereby rendering them more vulnerable to attack and/or interceptions from malicious third parties.

Harm could be caused by the disclosure of sensitive personal information such as names, sexual or gender orientation, lists of sexual partners, information about device usage, or intimate photos and video that could be accessible via the apps that control the devices, the research says.

Cyber attacks could also cause physical harm, such as overheating the device, it adds.

Future concerns revolve around virtual reality and artificial intelligence-powered sex robots, according to the research.

Specifically, the capabilities of VR and AI-powered sex robots that come with cameras, microphones, and AI voice analysis, all of which will need to be safeguarded against both physical and potential psychological harms, the research says.

Connected sex toys, fem-tech, different apps, devices and sensors that aim to improve women’s health, and smart children’s toys, are among devices that are “under-regulated and thus under-secured” and “collect exceptionally sensitive data and therefore pose a high risk of harm to users,” the research adds.

Vulnerabilities of smart children’s toys include device pairing with no authentication, which means anyone within a radius with a bluetooth device could pair with a toy to operate a microphone or camera, it says.

The UK already has one of the most robust product security regimes in the world and research can help identify new areas of vulnerability, a spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said.

The spokesperson said there was a commitment to continue to bolster cyber defences to protect British people.

Later in the year a Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will be introduced.