14 DAY TRIAL // A hacker managed to break into the Ring camera installed in the bedroom of an 8-year-old girl, play a song used in horror movies, and then tell her he is Santa Claus.
The Amazon Ring security camera was purchased on Black Friday, mother Ashley LeMay from Tennessee explains, adding that two-factor authentication wasn’t enabled at the time of the incident.
While it’s not yet known how the hacker managed to break into the camera, the family explains that the malicious actor accessed the surveillance system and played Tiptoe Trough The Tulips, a popular song previously featured in horror movies, the most recent of which is Insidious.
The hacker then told the girl he’s Santa.
“I’m your best friend. I’m Santa Claus. You can do whatever you want right now. You can mess up your room. You can break your TV. You can do whatever you want,” the hacker said, according to a report from WMC.
“No security breach”
The mother says she discovered the breach once she watched the Ring video recording.
“I watched the video and I mean my heart just like... I didn’t even get to the end where she is screaming ‘mommy, mommy’ before I like ran inside,” said LeMay.
Ring says the incident is already under investigation, but explains this isn’t by any means a security breach.
“Customer trust is important to us, and we take the security of our devices seriously. While we are still investigating this issue and are taking appropriate steps to protect our devices based on our investigation, we are able to confirm this incident is in no way related to a breach or compromise of Ring’s security,” a company spokesperson explained.
Furthermore, the company recommends customers to change passwords and enable two-factor authentication to prevent similar cases.