Owners of Ring surveillance cameras have good reason to be on edge after their personal information might have been exposed by a reported data breach.
According to a BuzzFeed News report, more than 3,600 Ring customers’ login credentials – including email addresses, passwords and camera names – were compromised and posted online.
Ring has pushed back against the report, releasing a statement saying there is no evidence of a leak:
“We want to inform you that we have investigated this incident and have no evidence of an unauthorized intrusion or compromise of Ring’s systems or network.”
The company did, however, acknowledge that bad actors got hold of some customers’ account details from non-Ring services. In response, the company has contacted users it believes were affected.
In the hands of the wrong person, customers’ information could potentially be used to login to their accounts, gain access to their live camera feeds and view their payment information.
News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said hackers also have a market for that kind of data.
“It’s all criminal activity when you deal with hackers,” Jefferson said. “They’re not just doing it for their self-gratification. They’re doing it for others, other thieves to use.”
Jefferson said customers should not only hold the company accountable, but they should also consider the potential of what could go wrong when they’re thinking about paying for surveillance services.
“It’s going to hurt the Ring company if this sort of thing continues, so if they don’t make improvements or changes, they’re going to suffer a great loss as a result,” he said.
Ring recommends that customers change their passwords and use two-factor authentication.