Meari Baby Monitors and Security Cameras Vulnerable to Remote Hacking

Security expert Sammy Azdoufal found that more than one million baby monitors and security cameras from Meari Technology were vulnerable to remote access, putting families at risk of privacy breaches. By analyzing the Android application, he uncovered a single key that allowed access to devices in 118 countries. These cameras, marketed under various names on Amazon and other platforms, stored images on publicly accessible Chinese Alibaba servers without any safeguards. Azdoufal accessed thousands of photos and identified Meari employees along with login details. Initially disregarded by Meari, he eventually alerted the company's head via WeChat, prompting them to fix the major security flaw. Meari admitted that, under certain circumstances, messages could be intercepted through the EMQX IoT platform but did not specify which brands were impacted or if customers had been informed. Although Azdoufal received a €24,000 bug bounty, he reported that Meari threatened him, claiming they knew his address and accused him of wrongdoing. He later shared the complete account on GitHub. This incident follows Azdoufal's previous hack of DJI robot vacuums, underscoring persistent security issues in smart home devices.