The smart home trend hasn’t let up as all kinds of internet-connected devices continue to make home life more efficient and convenient. But what happens when these smart gadgets are hacked?
In a presentation at the Defcon hacking conference, security researchers showed that it’s possible for malicious actors to exploit the smart vacuums and mowers by Ecovacs to secretly hack their microphones and cameras for spying, as TechCrunch reports.
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After analyzing several Ecovacs products, security researchers Dennis Giese and Braelynn found a number of problems that could be abused to remotely hack the robots via Bluetooth and secretly switch on their microphones and cameras.
According to the researchers, the main vulnerability is that the Ecovacs robots allow any smartphone owner to connect. Hackers could theoretically take control of the robots from a distance of up to 425 feet (130 meters) — and once that’s done, …