Wyze webcam Flaw let strangers see into some users’ homes

Five months after a similar issue, Wyze cameras are back in the headlines for a privacy nightmare. 

The Verge reports that dozens of users could see images from strangers’ homes, raising serious concerns about the security of these popular devices.

At least 12 users reported seeing thumbnails from cameras they didn’t own in their Wyze apps. This marks the fifth incident in less than a year, casting a shadow on Wyze’s security practices.

The co-founder of Wyze confirmed the incident and reported that the security breach impacted only a limited number of users, estimated to be around twelve.

“We have now identified a security issue where some users were able to see thumbnails of cameras that were not their own in the Events tab,”

Several Wyze app users on Reddit reported observing unauthorised footage on their devices.

While promising more openness than in past incidents, Wyze acknowledges only a comparable number of user reports to those discovered by independent sources.

Wyze co-founder David Crosby explained that the incident, where some users saw thumbnails from other users’ cameras in their Wyze apps, was caused by server overload and data corruption following an earlier AWS outage. 

He clarified that no live feeds or videos were exposed to unauthorized users. The Verge contacted Amazon Web Services (AWS) to confirm any service disruptions during the timeframe. 

However, AWS did not report any outage coinciding with the Wyze camera problems. Wyze’s repeated failure to secure user data is alarming. Two breaches in a year raise severe doubts about their commitment to privacy.

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