Hackers hit Amazon’s Ring, taunt family with racist comments

A family in Georgia is ruing the day they decided to install a Ring system, the popular smart doorbell for checking on visitors.<br><br>Last week, one of the parents of the Walker family was on its Ring app when they heard a man’s voice speaking to them through the device — but rather than a sexual predator, as was the case in this story out of Tennessee, it was two hackers.<br><br>“You have been doxxed. You have been hacked. And you’re a n----r,” the voice said, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.<br><br>The two men went on to make racist comments and attack President Trump — but otherwise the Walkers didn’t find them threatening.<br><br>“I’m sure it’s just kids, I’m sure it’s just some stupid kids in their mom’s basement,” said couple’s 21-year-old daughter.<br><br>The family is still in the process of getting their system back, reports the Ledger-Enquirer — and they aren’t the only ones who’ve been hit by these hackers.<br><br>Along with cyberstalking and harassing, the two men have also been using Ring systems to control doorbell cameras in order to look into people’s personal lives.<br><br>“It’s like having an intruder in our house. It’s a total invasion of privacy,” said Sarah from Orange County, California. “It’s like they are being voyeurs. They are watching you and your children inside your own home. I am afraid of them.”<br><br>According to Ring, the cyberstalking and hacking is the result of lax security on behalf of the homeowners.<br><br>“Due to the fact that customers often use the same password for their device as they do for their Amazon account and email, bad actors have brute-forced accounts,” said the company in a statement.<br><br>While the system lets owners terminate a hacker’s access, Sarah said that she’s been hacked three times since September 2019, when she first installed it.<br><br>According to Ring, to prevent being hacked, owners of the system should use double authentication.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Users: be wary of your doorbell camera. Your family might not be safe.