If you’re considering getting an Amazon Ring video doorbell or security camera, you may want to think again. In this year’s *Privacy Not Included buyer’s guide from Mozilla, security researchers found that Ring has a bad track record when it comes to protecting user privacy and patching major security vulnerabilities. Just this week, a Mississippi family had their Ring camera hacked four days after they bought it, allowing a stranger to speak to and harass an 8-year-old girl in her bedroom where her parents had installed the camera.
If you own a Ring, turning on two-factor authentication (2FA) is one step you––and everyone in your family––should take right now to secure your household’s device. Here’s how:
While two-factor authentication is the bare minimum you can do to protect yourself, Mozilla argues that the responsibility of keeping internet-connect gadgets secure should fall on the companies––like Amazon––that make them. Seems like common sense, but as more connected devices come online and the trove of user information grows, these gadgets and the data they collect become prime targets for bad actors.
Until manufacturers heed Mozilla’s call to protect and prioritize users, adding protection like two-factor authentication yourself is a crucial step to thwart someone who’s up to no good.
Amy Cao
