'Alarmed' by Breaches, Consumer Reports Urges 25 Camera Makers to Beef Up Security

Consumer Reports petitioned 25 camera vendors Monday to raise the standard for product security and privacy after recent incidents with connected cameras. The advocacy group is “alarmed by recent security incidents involving Ring, Wyze, Guardzilla and other connected camera products,” said Ben Moskowitz, director-Consumer Reports’ Digital Lab. Due to the “sensitive nature" of the data the devices collect, it urged manufacturers to incorporate additional security measures such as requiring multifactor authentication, emailing users when a login occurs from a new device or IP address, and increasing password protection against credential stuffing and brute-force dictionary attacks. CR’s ratings will continue to change to reflect the stronger data security and privacy practices it believes are essential for consumer protection. Letters were sent to ADT/LifeShield, Arlo, August, Blink, Canary, D-Link, Eufy/Anker, Frontpoint, Guardzilla, Honeywell Home, iSmartAlarm, Logitech, Google/Nest, Netvue, Night Owl, Ooma, Remo-Plus, Ring, Samsung SmartThings, Scout, SimpliSafe, TP-Link, Wyze and Zmodo. ADT, Google and Samsung didn't comment. Honeywell spun off its home business almost two years ago, a spokesperson emailed now: Home and do-it-yourself "products are now under Resideo, which manufacturers and markets those products. They simply license the Honeywell name." Resideo didn't comment on CR's request.