Earlier this week, an Amazon Ring security camera installed in 8-year old girl Alyssa’s bedroom got compromised by hackers within just four days of purchase. The incident took place in Desoto County, Mississippi.
Ashley LeMay, the mother of the girl reportedly purchased the security camera in Black Friday sale. The camera was purchased as an additional security measure to keep an eye on her children while she works overnight in the hospital.
“I’m your best friend.I’m Santa Claus, don’t you want to be my best friend?”, the hacker told Alyssa through the camera after which she screamed and reached out to her mom.
“I watched the video and I mean my heart just like… I didn’t even get to the end where she is screaming ‘mommy, mommy’ before I like ran inside,” said LeMay.
Ring, however, denied the security breach. The company believes that hackers could have gained the credentials to the Ring account from security breaches as people usually use the same password in various accounts.
“Customer trust is important to us and we take the security of our devices seriously. While we are still investigating this issue and are taking appropriate steps to protect our devices based on our investigation, we are able to confirm this incident is in no way related to a breach or compromise of Ring’s security.”, says a Ring spokesperson.
Coincidentally, the FBI recently warned people to be aware of the possible security risks of smart gadgets (TVs). If you own any smart home products including security cameras, we would recommend you to turn on two-factor authentication to avoid such incidents.
