Robot vacuums from across the country, all of the same make and model (the Chinese-made Ecovacs Deebot X2s), were hacked in a series of attacks, allowing the hackers to take control of the devices and use their speakers to spew racial slurs and abusive language, as reported by ABC News. The security flaw that enabled these attacks has garnered attention for making the robovacs easy to hack. Victims like Minnesota lawyer Daniel Swenson experienced intrusions into their private spaces, with strangers accessing live camera feeds and controlling the devices remotely. The incidents occurred in multiple locations, with one vacuum in Los Angeles chasing a dog and another in El Paso emitting abusive comments. The root cause of the security vulnerability lies in a flaw that allows bypassing the four-digit security PIN, which came to light in December 2023. While a patch is in development to address this issue, the attacks have raised concerns about the safety and privacy implications of connected smart devices.
