If the "remote updating for fleet management" can be attacked, you don't even need to buy them; you can take over other people's.
[1] http://www.computerworld.com/article/3037377/security/mousej...
1- A beacon broadcast a UUID.
2- The users should install my app, the app reads the UUID.
3- The app requests the picture or video related to this UUID from my server.
If an attacker can access the beacon and modify it, then my app is not going to find the UUID's i added to the server.
-evul haxor learns about those beacons at the target location
-finds a weakness in remote firmware update
-prepares special firmware with added Microsoft/logitech mouse/keyboard emulation (nRF52 can do this). Bonus points if he can make one beacon flash other beacons in range.
-infects one beacon using long range setup (yagi, amp)
-profit
BT pairing prevents trivial MITM attacks.
There is a ton of potential for them though, but perhaps more in the autonomous vehicles and robotics space than in the realm of current consumer devices. Of course, there are plenty of competing technologies in the micro-location space.
Making beacons more computationally powerful beyond just broadcasting a UUID is an interesting development, and one competing tech, like location fingerprinting, can't easily do.
We just released a new revision of our Location Beacons. We implemented new, low power Nordic nRF52 chip and extended range to 200 metres (+10dB).
Beacons can simultanously advertise both iBeacon and Eddystone packets as well as telemetry & sensor data + they have built-in GPIO slot.
There is also 1Mb EEPROM, so you can read/write data directly in the beacon.
You can read more on our blog: http://blog.estimote.com/post/149362004575/updated-location-...
I will be more than happy to answer any questions here.
