Software engineer accidentally gains control of 7,000 robot vacuums in a security flaw

A software engineer discovered that he could gain control of thousands of internet-connected vacuum cleaners after attempting to modify his own device, according to a report by The Guardian. While attempting to use a PlayStation controller with his own robot vacuum, the engineer found that an authentication flaw in the manufacturer’s cloud system allowed access to nearly 7,000 robot cleaners in about 24 countries. The devices included live camera feeds, microphone audio and floor mapping data, all of which were linked to households around the world. Instead of using the access for personal gain, the engineer told a tech news site about the flaw. This raised concerns about the security of smart appliances that connect to cloud servers. This case shows that design problems that come up in everyday consumer technology can expose big holes in privacy and cybersecurity all over the world.