Posted on December 28, 2019 at 5:44 PM
Amazon and Ring Facing a $5m Lawsuit for Selling Vulnerable Cameras
Recently, it was reported that Amazon and Ring are facing a $5 million proposed class-action lawsuit for selling highly-vulnerable cameras.
Hacking attacks are nothing new, and often enough, the problem lies with users of various devices, as they failed to secure their technology. However, recent reports claim that Amazon and Ring were just slapped with a major $5 million-large proposed class-action federal lawsuit because they sold vulnerable cameras to unsuspecting customers.
The reports claim that several families have reported being harassed by hackers, all around the country. The reports came from Georgia, Florida, Texas, as well as Mississippi. Concerned users reported that their Ring cameras were compromised and that hackers kept tormenting them in different ways. They harassed the families with racial slurs, and they encouraged young children into ‘destructive behavior.’
The attackers even attempted to demand ransom, requesting payments in Bitcoin. However, the plaintiff of the lawsuit, John Baker Orange, claims that there are likely ‘thousands of putative class members’ all over the world.
Hackers contacting children through cameras
Orange is a citizen of the state of Alabama, and his incident with the Ring camera took place earlier this year, in July. According to him, he purchased the camera for $249 in order to increase the security of his home, as he lives with his wife and their three children.
However, while the children were playing basketball, they started hearing an unknown voice that was coming from the outdoor camera. The lawsuit further states that the voice commented on their game and that it wanted for them to come closer to the cam.
When asked for a comment on the new development, Ring refused to share anything. The Californian company has been around for a few years now after it was launched in 2015. It offers inside and outside cameras alike, and its devices feature video, as well as two-way audio communications.
Further, the company became successful due to its products being easy to install and use, in addition to being relatively affordable. They use the customer’s Wi-Fi network in order to operate.
Meanwhile, Ring is partnered with numerous law enforcement agencies in the US. Then, in early 2018, Amazon purchased the company for $1 billion, and it acted as its supporter ever since.
Back then, Ring’s CEO, Jamie Siminoff, stated that the firm’s mission is to help reduce crime in neighborhoods, which is at the core of all that the company does. However, with new development, it would appear that the company’s products have some issues that the firm managed to oversee.
After the reports of the problems started coming in, Ring blamed the customers themselves for failing to properly secure their devices. The firm noted that the reason for the successful hacks likely lies with weak passwords that were used and compromised before.
