Hackers dismantle Flock camera to reveal security vulnerabilities

A hacker collective known as stegan0gram has physically removed a Flock Safety surveillance camera to conduct a deep-dive analysis of its internal systems. By accessing the device's storage, the group discovered unencrypted partitions containing vendor files and media, along with an encryption key that exposed recorded footage. The investigation, conducted in partnership with 404 Media and WIRED, revealed that the camera functions as an edge device, transmitting data to Flock servers for processing. While the camera does not perform facial recognition, it does utilize image classification to detect and log human presence, a feature not widely discussed by the company. Flock has criticized the act as illegal and noted that they have not received a formal vulnerability report. This incident highlights growing concerns regarding the privacy implications of widespread surveillance networks and the accessibility of data shared across law enforcement agencies.