More than 3,000 Amazon Ring cameras were reportedly compromised this past week, potentially exposing the login credentials of users and possibly enabling hackers easy access to all kinds of information.
Buzzfeed reports the leaked data could have allowed hackers to access Ring customers’ payment information, camera footage, and video cameras’ history.
Ring told Digital Trends that the leaked data was not a data breach of its systems.
“Ring has not had a data breach. Our security team has investigated these incidents, and we have no evidence of an unauthorized intrusion or compromise of Ring’s systems or network. It is not uncommon for bad actors to harvest data from other company’s data breaches and create lists like this so that other bad actors can attempt to gain access to other services,” a Ring spokesperson told Digital Trends.
Ring is reaching out to all customers to notify them of the data that was leaked and to tell them to change their passwords. For those customers who were directly affected, Ring has already changed their passwords to prevent further hacks.
It’s proving to not be a good week for Ring; in addition to this data leak, Tech Crunch reports that about 1,500 Ring customers’ passwords were also compromised in a separate leak. The list of passwords and email addresses were reportedly uploaded to the dark web site called DeepPaste. The information found on the site could be used to login to Ring cameras, therefore allowing potential hackers complete access to the camera.
The past week has seen other reports of Ring camera hacks where the hackers were able to talk to people inside of their homes. A California woman said her in-home Amazon Ring camera was hacked to make inappropriate comments toward her.
“Yo, what’s up? How’s your day?” a man’s voice reportedly said to her through the Ring camera, followed by, “Hi, show me some [expletive].”
Another hack occurred in Tennessee, this time involving a little girl. A man was able to talk to the little girl in her bedroom through a Ring camera. The man told her, “I’m your best friend … I’m Santa Claus.” Ring’s security camera has HD video, night vision, and a two-way talk feature, so the hacker was most likely able to not only talk to the child but also see her.
Both of these instances were due to weak passwords/not setting up two-factor authentication.
With all the unsettling reports of Ring cameras being hacked and data being exposed, it’s essential to be smart when it comes to your smart home technology, especially when it comes to password management. There are a lot of steps you can take to keep your passwords safe and protect your Ring security camera from being hacked, including enabling two-factor authentication. It’s also important to regularly change your password and to have unique passwords across different platforms.
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