Hackers rip down Flock camera, steal its data, share findings with media
The breach exposed software that detects people and bicycles, while recovered logs showed 1.6 million images from about 50,200 vehicles in three weeks.
- On Wednesday, hacker collective stegan0gram shared data from a physically removed Flock Safety camera with 404 Media and WIRED, revealing the surveillance devices capture far more than license plates.
- Growing national backlash against the surveillance devices prompted cities to cancel contracts, fueled by concerns over mass monitoring and a network accessible to more than 2,000 agencies nationwide.
- Joint analysis of recovered logs spanning about 21 days showed the camera generated roughly 1.6 million images of 50,200 vehicles; software explicitly detected people, bicycles, and bumper stickers.
- Flock Safety officials called the 'unauthorized removal' illegal and stated they received no vulnerability report through official channels; Boston announced it will cease using the company's technology.
- The FLOCK Act, proposed federal legislation, aims to withhold 10% of state highway funding from states failing to restrict these cameras, allowing only five specific surveillance uses.
35 Articles
35 Articles
“Why just destroy them”: Hackers crack open a Flock camera
“Why just destroy them when we can reverse engineer them and find the secrets of those spying on us?” one hacker told 404 Media. The hacker belongs to a collective called stegan0gram. The group pulled a Flock Safety camera down from above a roadway and copied almost all of its data. It shared the files […] This story continues at The Next Web
Hackers crack open Flock camera — what they found it was actually watching raises new questions - The Daily Bo Snerdley
BS BULLETIN: Hackers physically obtained and reverse-engineered a Flock Safety license-plate camera, exposing new details about what happens inside the device. Researchers examining the extracted data found roughly 1.6 million images of more than 50,000 vehicles recorded over about 21 days. The camera’s software could also detect people — a capability that goes beyond the license plates at the center of the public debate. Those increasingly fami…
Hackers Tear Down Flock Camera and Reveal How Its Surveillance System Works
Atlanta, Georgia — A hacker collective dismantled a Flock Safety camera, copied much of its internal software and storage, and shared the files with journalists, revealing that the company’s surveillance devices collect far more information than license plates alone. The group, calling itself stegan0gram, provided the data to 404 Media and WIRED. Their analysis found that one camera generated about 1.6 million images from roughly 50,000 vehicles…
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