Ring Smart Doorbell Accidentally Sends Data to China

By Prei Dy, | March 22, 2017

Ring smart doorbell is accidentally routing audio data to China. (YouTube)

Ring smart doorbell is accidentally routing audio data to China. (YouTube)

A smart doorbell, produced by Los Angeles-based startup Ring, is accidentally sending audio data to a server in China run by Chinese internet giant Baidu at random intervals. The doorbell is supposed to send user video and audio data to Amazon Web Services server.

A Reddit user first noticed the odd traffic from the device. The story was picked by IoT For All and described it as a huge vulnerability. However, the company Ring was quick to act. And just five days after the post was published, Joshua Roth, Ring's chief technology officer, responded to the original threat.

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Roth said that the audio data sent to China is only 21 milliseconds, clarifying that it does not pose any security threats. Furthermore, he promised that all firmware of the Ring Video Doorbell Pro devices, which is the only one affected by the glitch, will be updated and will stop connecting to the Chinese server.

Just last week, Ring hired consulting firm Tevora to assess the device. Tevora confirmed that the smart doorbell device is already secure and is no longer connecting to the server in China, according to Forbes.

The glitch was present in firmware version 1.4.26 and is now updated to version 1.4.29. Tevora also made clear that the bug was harmless and has no vulnerability issue.

"There is no evidence to suggest there is any risk to the consumer," Tevora said on its report.

Security researchers also assured Ring users that the bug has no significant security risk. The smart doorbell device was reportedly sending data over an internet protocol that threw data one way. Thus, contrary to what users suspected, there is no way for hidden agents to enter into the device from the other end and input malicious code into the device.

Ring also denied that it is using off-the-shelf systems from China, which means it uses lower-quality equipment. Roth defended that the company takes "extensive measure to build quality products that are secure."


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