The Amazon acquired company that makes smart doorbells, outdoor cameras and alarms, is now under a new lawsuit. A man from Alabama alleges that the company’s outdoor camera was hacked and used for harassing his kids.
Breach, Watch, Scare
Ring was under several such allegations this year on the counts of privacy and security. The company, famous for its home security products, was under a fresh petition by John Baker Orange, a resident of Alabama who claims that his Ring Outdoor Camera, which was bought in July this year, was breached by someone and used for harassing his kids.
The lawsuit read, “Recently, Mr Orange’s children were playing basketball when a voice came on through the camera’s two-way speaker system. An unknown person engaged with Mr Orange’s children commenting on their basketball play and encouraging them to get closer to the camera”.
While this being terrifying, another such incident was shared by reporter Jessica Holley, on her Twitter handle. The video shows someone from the Ring camera is talking to an 8-year old kid, claiming to be Santa and to become a best friend!
This lawsuit is anticipated, as many have previously reported that the two-way talk functions of these devices are compromised and used to wake people up in the middle of the night and watch unsuspecting children through it!
A Senate too has alleged Ring for being an open door for privacy and civil liberty violations. Other incidents include a couple being threatened and asked for a ransom of $350k in Bitcoin etc strengthens the fact of Ring system’s vulnerability.
And when asked by Guardian, Ring responded as “We take the security of our devices seriously. Consumers should always practice good password hygiene and we encourage Ring customers to change their passwords and enable two-factor authentication”.
