TL;DR
- Wyze Cam devices had a huge security flaw for years.
- The vulnerability allowed hackers to gain unauthorized access to Wyze’s home security cameras.
- The company knew about the problem and did nothing.
If you own any of the Wyze Cam devices — the V1, V2, or V3 — someone could have easily watched you in secret and even downloaded the feed from the SD card of your camera. What’s worse? For three years, Wyze knew about the problem and chose not to acknowledge it, fix it, or even inform affected customers.
The software flaw in Wyze’s cameras was discovered by folks over at Bitdefender. The security research firm claims it informed Wyze about the problem in March 2019. However, the Seattle-based company failed to respond until November 2020. Two years later, in February 2022, Wyze discontinued the Wyze Cam V1, citing the camera’s inability to support a security update.
“Your continued use of the Wyze Cam v1 after February 1, 2022, carries increased risk, is discouraged by Wyze, and is entirely at your own risk,” the company said in an email to customers. However, it still didn’t disclose the fact that the cameras were essentially secret peepholes for hackers and that it knew about the issue. As Bleeping Computer notes, Wyze Cam owners might still be running a vulnerable firmware version.
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When asked why it kept silent about such a massive security breach, Wyze spokesperson Kyle Christensen told The Verge that the company has been completely transparent with its customers. Christensen also said that the issue had been patched. However, the update that removes the vulnerability is only available for the Wyze Cam V2 and V3, released in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
According to Wyze’s Play Store listing, the company has over 5 million users. It also makes multiple other smart home security products such as video doorbells, motion sensors, and more. For a firm so vested in providing security solutions and services that apparently don’t rely on overseas servers, Wyze sure has its work cut out for it now that these findings are out in the open.
Meanwhile, If you are a Wyze user and are worried about the security of your camera, you can head to the company’s official portal to check for the latest firmware. If you have the Wyze Cam V1, you’re out of luck. It would be best if you stopped using the camera altogether.
