Amazon Key camera feed can be disabled, security firm finds

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Image: Amazon

People were understandably a little concerned when Amazon announced its new Amazon Key service, which lets couriers inside their houses in order to deliver packages without worrying that someone will steal them from the porch outside. Critics, though, worried that letting a stranger inside your house may be worse.

Not to worry, Amazon said, as the service works in tandem with the new Cloud Cam (and a new smart lock), so you could check in on your house at the time of delivery and see if anything was amiss. Sounds kinda sorta okay, right?

Naturally, there had to be a catch. Researchers from Rhino Security Labs recently told Wired that it’s relatively easy for unscrupulous couriers or random people from the street to use a simple denial-of-service attack program to freeze the Cloud Cam’s feed from any computer within Wi-Fi range. 

In other words, the courier or someone who followed him or her could possibly wait until after the package was delivered to freeze the feed and, right afterward, run into the house again before activating the lock. Worse, the Cloud Cam continues to show the last image captured, which makes it look as though nothing is happening onscreen. You can see the attack in action in the video below.