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Reports have emerged from multiple U.S. cities of robot vacuums being hacked, including one instance where a man reported his vacuum shouting racial slurs.
The hacking incidents, which occurred over a few days in May across various U.S. cities, included reports of a vacuum chasing a dog in Los Angeles and another in El Paso, Texas, yelling racial slurs at its owner.
An investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation identified a security flaw in the Chinese-made Ecovacs Deebot X2, which has been linked to these incidents.
While watching TV with his family, Minnesota lawyer Daniel Swenson noticed unusual sounds coming from his vacuum. “It sounded like a broken radio signal,” he recounted. When he checked his Ecovacs app, he saw a stranger controlling the device’s remote features and live camera.
After resetting his password and rebooting the vacuum, the situation escalated. A loud voice began to shout, “F— n——s!” he told ABC.
TechCrunch has reported that Ecovacs vacuums are particularly vulnerable to hacking, a concern that has been known for some time.
“It’s a serious security issue,” researcher Dennis Giese told TechCrunch.
Despite these concerns, the manufacturer has announced a security upgrade for the X2 series of robot vacuums, scheduled for release in November.
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