APPLE

Wyze camera hack allowed 13,000 customers to see other people's homes

As a result of the Wyze camera hack, about 13,000 customers were able to view footage from other people's homes. The company initially said that only 14 people experienced a serious privacy and security breach.

Wyze says most of those customers only saw thumbnails, but more than 1,500 users saw either the full-size or full-size version. frame or video recording of the event …

Wyze camera breach

Wise reported that Amazon Web Services (AWS), whose servers the company uses to remotely access cameras, experienced an outage. It was annoying to not have remote access to the camera for a few hours, but it wasn't a big deal.

However, as The Verge reports, the problem occurred after the glitch was fixed and the cameras started coming back online.

However, according to The Verge, the problem arose after the glitch was fixed and the cameras began connecting to the network again.

p>

Customers have reported seeing mysterious images and videos in their Events tab. Wyze has disabled access to the tab and began its own investigation.

As before, Wyze attributes the incident to a “third-party caching client library” that was recently integrated into its system.

“This client library has experienced unprecedented load conditions caused by devices. I'll be back online right away. As a result of increased demand, the company confused the device ID with the user ID and associated some data with the wrong accounts.

But it was too late to prevent approximately 13,000 people from gaining unauthorized access. view miniatures from other people's houses. Wise reports that 1,504 people clicked to enlarge the thumbnail, and that some of them caught the video, which they were able to view.

The company says all affected users have been notified and a “new level” has now been added checks.” to ensure this does not happen again.

Reddit users weren't impressed by the company's explanation.

“Increased demand doesn't cause code or databases to accidentally confuse one value with another. Increased demand slows down the request processing time, but does not fundamentally change the encoded process. This is fucked up at best.

“This is hand waving nonsense. Wyze products are very cheap and you get what you pay for.”

“Why do they always blame a third party? We do not buy cameras or pay third parties for them. This is a Wyzes problem, admit it and end it.”

Not the first times

This is not the first time something like this has happened. Back in 2022, a security flaw allowed hackers to view stored video, and it reportedly wasn't fixed for three years even after the company was warned about it.

In 2019, some 2 4 million Wyze camera users had a large amount of personal data leaked into a separate security vulnerability.

9to5Mac’s Take

As we recently discussed, whether the problem is due to security flaws or overpriced server access, the lesson for security cameras seems clear: Stick with cameras that support Apple HomeKit Secure Video.

It is not only completely safe, but also value for money. Although you need an iCloud subscription to use it, cloud storage is not included.

Photo: 9to5Toys

Leave a Reply