Report: Hackers Breach And Expose Flock Camera Software, As Resistance Continues

For at least the past few months, people all over the country and across social media have been expressing deep concerns over the use of Flock cameras by law enforcement, especially since a multitude of cops have been caught using the AI roadside cameras to stalk their ex-girlfriends and wives, among other misuses of the damn near Orwellian mass surveillance system.

Well, according to files obtained by Wired and 404 Media, the hackers have gotten involved on behalf of the people who would rather not live in a world under the constant watch of what the Washington Post describes as a “sprawling network of artificial-intelligence roadside cameras, which record passing license plates into a mappable database that officers can search while investigating crime.” (But, again, are they “investigating crime,” or are they investigating the catalysts for their own crimes of passion by checking up on their exes’ new boyfriends?)

The alleged hackers reportedly ripped down a Flock camera above a roadway, made a near-complete copy of the data stored inside it, and shared the contents with the media, revealing details about how the software operates and how others can hack cameras, too.

From 404:

The breach provides an unprecedented look inside a system that Flock has described as protected by on-device encryption. The hackers were able to copy the camera’s storage and recover an encryption key stored on the device, which unlocked videos of thousands of vehicle detections. The hackers shared the material with 404 Media and the transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets, which shared the data with WIRED. 404 Media and WIRED then analyzed those files as part of a joint investigation.

While much of the automatic license plate reader’s (ALPR) most sensitive storage remained encrypted and inaccessible, the joint analysis of the recovered data shows that software running on the device explicitly detects people as well as vehicles, license plates, and bicycles. The camera can produce dozens of images of a single passing vehicle and, according to several weeks of recovered logs, generated more than a million images. Its computer-vision software also sometimes isolated bumper stickers and other graphics, including, in one case, an American flag patch on a motorcyclist’s saddlebag.

The collective of tech-savvy hackers reportedly calls itself stegan0gram.

“Why just destroy them when we can reverse engineer them and find the secrets of those spying on us?” one member of the group asked during an interview before going on to explain, “We liberated hardware in the field, disarmed them, and proceeded with reverse engineering of the cameras and associated solar equipment.”

Last month, we reported that Flock pledged to make major changes to its applications after news broke that cops were using the technology to play their Fatal Attraction games and manufacture probable cause to arrest people. But those too-little, too-late promises are falling on deaf ears among those who fear the cameras are just a symptom of the disease of “Big Brother” running out of control.

Flock is basically hemorrhaging contracts with cities that have canceled on the company amid widespread backlash. People across the country have been arrested for allegedly tampering with or sabotaging Flock’s cameras. One police department in Florida even made a fake, 3D-printed Flock camera case in order to bait potential vandals; this is how serious the resistance to these cameras has gotten.

Flock and other manufacturers should expect hackers and saboteurs to keep coming, reflecting the will of people who don’t want the powers that be all up in our business and all up on our license plates. Or maybe just get a clue and shut the police state down.

SEE ALSO:

What The Flock? Cops Use AI Camera System To Stalk Their Exes And More

What Are Flock Cameras And Why Are They So Controversial?

Flock Changes To Cameras Should’ve Already Been Mandatory [Op-Ed]