Amazon-recommended security cameras are highly vulnerable to hacking, finds new study

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Amazon is putting consumers at risk by listing and recommending cameras with security flaws, according to Which?

• A selection of security cameras that are being sold and touted by Amazon on its website come with "huge" security risks, according to an investigation by UK consumer watchdog Which? released on Monday.
• After testing six different wireless cameras, Which? found that the devices were easy to hack thanks to weak passwords and unencrypted data, enabling strangers to remotely take control of the camera to spy into people's homes and view footage as they please.
• One customer, who reviewed an Amazon Choice $35.99 security camera said: "Someone spied on us. They talked through the camera and they turned the camera on at will. Extremely creepy. We told Amazon. Three of us experienced it, yet they're still selling them."
• Amazon declined to comment to Which? on its findings.
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A selection of security cameras that are being sold and touted by Amazon on its website come with "huge" security risks, according to findings from an investigation conducted by UK consumer watchdog Which? that were released on Friday.

After testing six different wireless cameras, Which? found that the devices were easy to hack thanks to weak passwords and unencrypted data that could enable strangers to remotely take control of the camera to spy into people's homes and view footage as they please.

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One of the cameras tested in the investigation has an Amazon Choice label. This essentially means that it is an item that many buyers have purchased and were satisfied with, but it doesn't mean it has been heavily vetted by Amazon. The Amazon Choice label is important as these are the items that Amazon's search engine will deliver when you ask Alexa to search for you.

Which? says that the lack of vetting on these Amazon recommended products is extremely concerning.

"There appears to be little to no quality control with these sub-standard products, which risk people's security yet are being endorsed and sold on Amazon," Adam French, a consumer rights expert at Which? said in a statement to the press on Monday.

"Amazon and other online marketplaces must take these cameras off sale and improve the way they scrutinize these products," he continued. "They certainly should not be endorsing products that put people's privacy at risk."

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Customers raised safety concerns in some reviews online.

"Someone spied on us," said one customer who reviewed a $35.99 Victure security camera that carries the Amazon Choice badge. "They talked through the camera and they turned the camera on at will. Extremely creepy. We told Amazon. Three of us experienced it, yet they're still selling them." Business Insider has reached out to Victure for comment.

Another customer wrote that he had "chills down his spine" after hearing a mysterious voice coming from a camera next to his child's crib after it was apparently hacked, Which? wrote in its press release.

Which? said it asked Amazon to remove these products and is urging the company to monitor customer feedback and investigate cases where consumers have identified issues with security. Amazon declined to comment on Which?'s findings, however. A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.