Amazon Ring Leaks Thousands of Customer Data
The credentials and user data of 3,672 Ring camera owners were compromised and exposed log-in emails, passwords, time zones and the names people give to specific Ring cameras, which are often the same as camera locations, such as “bedroom” or “front door.”
According to Buzzfeed News, "With the log-in email and password, an intruder could access a Ring customer’s home address, telephone number and payment information, including the kind of card they have and its last four digits and security code. An intruder could also access live camera footage from all active Ring cameras associated with an account, as well as a 30- to 60-day video history, depending on the user’s cloud storage plan."
New Zealand security researcher Nick Shepherd, who claims he used a web crawler to search the internet for any data leaks pertaining to Ring accounts, alerted Buzzfeed News to the leak. Shepherd says he found the list of compromised credentials posted anonymously on a text storage site and proceeded to call Ring’s customer support number. A representative told him that they were “unable to assist.”
BuzzFeed News verified the leak by confirming the exposed information with four individuals whose log-ins were compromised. "When contacted, all of these individuals said that Ring did not notify them that their log-ins were exposed. None of them had two-factor authentication enabled on their Ring accounts," says the news report.
A Ring spokesperson declined to tell BuzzFeed News if the security service 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,” the spokesperson said. “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.”
According to Buzzfeed News, "over 700 police departments in the US have signed contracts with Ring. These contracts give police access the company’s law enforcement portal, which allows police to request camera footage from residents without receiving a warrant. In exchange, Ring often gives police free cameras, and it offers police more free cameras if they convince enough people to download its neighborhood watch app, Neighbors."
For more information, visit Buzzfeed News.
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