Hackers Extract Flock Camera Data, Revealing Vehicle and People Tracking
Hackers removed a Flock camera, copied its storage and recovered an on-device encryption key, according to 404 Media and WIRED. Recovered logs show the system detected people, vehicles, license plates and bicycles, generating about 1.6 million images over roughly 21 days.
The hackers shared the files with 404 Media and the transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets, which shared the data with WIRED. 404 Media and WIRED then analyzed the files as part of a joint investigation. Flock has described its system as protected by on-device encryption, but the hackers were able to copy the camera's storage and recover the encryption key stored on the device.
The camera can produce dozens of images of a single passing vehicle and, according to several weeks of recovered logs, generated more than a million images. Its computer-vision software also sometimes isolated bumper stickers and other graphics, including, in one case, an American flag patch on a motorcyclist's saddlebag, the outlets reported.
According to the analysis, the camera's logs recorded about 21 days of activity across several periods. During those windows, the device photographed roughly 50,200 vehicles and generated about 1.6 million images. On a typical day, it logged around 3,300 vehicles, with a high of 4,454. When it spots a person, the software records where they appear in the image and how confident it is in the detection, a capability the outlets said is typically overlooked in discussions around Flock cameras.
A collective calling itself stegan0gram breached the cameras, according to an interview it gave to WIRED and 404 Media. "Why just destroy them when we can reverse engineer them and find the secrets of those spying on us?" the group said, according to the interview.