Hacker gains access to Ring cameras... and talks to an 8 year old girl.

This very disturbing! A hacker dialogs with a Tennessee 8 year old girl in her room over a Ring camera. A second report of a hacker accesses a Ring camera in Atlanta. Think of what could have happened (or will come in the future) with the knowlege these criminals have by watching this family. Questions: What is Ring’s response on today’s report of a Ring camera being hacked into? What steps do we as Ring customers need to do to protect our family and kids from being threatened. Why did this happen and what is Ring doing to prevent hackers from accessing our cameras and/or accessing our video in the cloud? As consumers, we need better assurances that proper security investments where and are beign made in designing and maintaining these cameras. I’m guessing Ring cut manufacturing costs by not including enough storage to allow for the updating the kernel (Linux?). Ring needs to enable its devices for regularly scheduled kernel updates. Until this addressed, Ring and other IoT devices will continue to suffer these types of exploits.

https://nypost.com/2019/12/12/creep-hacks-familys-ring-camera-tells-tennessee-girl-hes-santa-claus/

They most likely used the same email and password a thousand times and never changed it. It was probably hacked somewhere else and is out in the general public now. Everyone needs to use different passwords for each site and check online to see if either the email or passwords have been compromised every so often. Google chrome now tells you if your password has been exposed when you sign into sites. And for people not to use 2FA when it’s available is just dumb.
And on your post to the article it says it all.
Here is there response that was part of the article you posted.
“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,” the statement said. “Due to the fact that customers often use the same username and password for their various accounts and subscriptions, bad actors often re-use credentials stolen or leaked from one service on other services.”
So to me this was just a person that did not take enough security with there devices and not Ring’s fault.

My question is, why would parents have a Ring camera in an 8 year old’s room?..on while she is there…like a baby monitor? Talk about Orwellian. A child needs some privacy. Even a parent watching the child all the time in her bedroom is creepy.

What Ring DOES need to do is provide a real shut-off for its customers. They are so hungry for your data and video, they don’t want you to ever turn it off. Sure, you can turn off notifications (I’m referring specifically to the floodlight cam in my case)…but “Ring” is still always watching AND recording…which is also creepy. This may be the factor that makes me return the device. The only way for me to stop it from recording is turn off the power source to it…then the lights also wont work.

I agree that hackers, sepecially ones messing with a child are a real problem; but think about it in the context of Alexa where employees were caught listening to private stuff and even sharing it for fun with each other. Having these things IN your house, with the power on to them is allowing someone with access at Ring to be watching your little girl too. All of my interaction with tech support feels and sounds like I’m dealing with offshore “support”. I have little confidence so far just in their knowledge and ability to really troubleshoot…but recently support was having me purposly trigger motion…while they monitored my device. It occured to me at that time to quickly walk in and out of view to do it because it creeped me out that this guy, who I didnt know and wasnt real confident in anyway, could be seeing me. Thats an outdoor camera…I would NEVER put one of these devices inside my home unless I was confident that I could turn it off and no one, not even Ring can see or collect anything from the camera when I didnt want them to…without pulling the plug or battery.

Hi neighbors, we want to set the record straight. Ring services have not been compromised. Read more here: https://blog.ring.com/2019/12/12/rings-services-have-not-been-compromised-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

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Great remarks Eagle328… time will tell if your assesment is true. I’m a little sceptical though. There are other Ring events hitting the news. One in Georgia, for example. Also, Ring has been called out for other security concerns in the past such as:

FOR OWNERS OF AMAZON’S RING SECURITY CAMERAS, STRANGERS MAY HAVE BEEN WATCHING TOO

https://theintercept.com/2019/01/10/amazon-ring-security-camera/

Agree with you 100% regarding MFA.

Thanks for your response Riley… will look over your link.

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Sadly, many people don’t understand security when it comes to the internet. But that blog does address most issues and what people need to do. Most people still use common passwords such as, password, #od, and, other simple ones. Ring can only do so much. The adding of 2fa is a huge help. Everytime I post I get a code by text to enter. So my forum account is as safe as my Ring account.

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Hi @Dude, I also wanted to make a note about the concern of your device always recording. It is an option to turn off your Motion Zones in settings to stop motion event recordings. If you have an Indoor or Stick-Up Cam there is the option to toggle off Motion Recording in the app, which you can learn more about here. We, of course, have taken this feedback to the team here as it is important to us. Thank you!

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i take online security very seriously. I have had 2 factor authentication on from the beginning i use it on every site that allowes it. Yet on Saturday August 15th 2020 i received a call from my partner at my work, asking if i was logged into the stick up cam (latest version) being used as a baby monitor in my 16month old daughters bedroom. As the answer was no she was extreemely conserned as she kept hearing laughter coming from the nursery, followed by a song being played 3 times and a mans voice, fortunatly my daughter was asleep. I advised her to remove the POE device straight away. I have not plugged it back in. I have been all over the website simply trying to get a phone number for Ring support Australia. They dont seem to like to share this information.

Unfortunatly for Ring i work for i would say easily their largest distributor in Aus. Previously i highly recomended this brand and this has definatly shattered my confidence in said products. Im about to go into work to get their contact info through that means. Shouldnt be so hard. There is a contact us link at the bottom of each page yet you click on call us and the page is empty, Not really good enough considering i pay for the full protection plan.

We take your safety and security very seriously, and thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. @MsDin, would it be alright if one of our team members reaches out to the email address on file for your Community account?

Hi yes that would be fine. I would really appreciate it.
Regards Mark