Hackers steal Flock camera, find 1.6M images in 21 days
A group of hackers removed a Flock camera in the field, took it apart and extracted its data, finding that in a 21-day period the device photographed roughly 50,200 vehicles and generated about 1.6 million images. The findings, shared with Wired and 404 Media in a joint investigation, show how much visual data a single Flock camera can capture and transmit.
The group, which calls itself stegan0gram, told the outlets it physically took the camera and reverse-engineered it. “We liberated hardware in the field, disarmed them, and proceeded with reverse engineering of the cameras and associated solar equipment,” one hacker affiliated with the group said.
“Why just destroy them when we can reverse engineer them and find the secrets of those spying on us?” the hacker added.
The outlets reported that a Flock camera generally captures around 28 images from a single vehicle encounter, though some encounters produce more than 100 images. The camera sends photos and other data to Flock through a cellular network.
Wired and 404 Media found that the cameras do not identify vehicles or read plates, and stated that this analysis appears to happen on Flock’s servers. In one instance, a camera running about 20 Flock-built apps, including apps that detect motion and upload data, was able to detect an American flag patch on a motorcyclist’s saddle bag.
A Flock spokesperson said in a statement that “the unauthorized removal and tampering of a Flock camera is illegal.”
“Flock takes security seriously and maintains a public Vulnerability Disclosure Policy for security researchers to report potential vulnerabilities directly to us,” the spokesperson said. “We received no report through that process, and based on the limited information provided, we do not have enough detail to assess the claims being made.”
Flock’s system includes license plate readers, video cameras and audio detection devices that feed an AI database logging license plate numbers and car features such as make, model, color and bumper stickers. Local jurisdictions can share that data with other law enforcement agencies.
The technology has drawn criticism from some federal and state lawmakers. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said earlier this month that he worried his state would become a “digital AI surveillance state where everything we’re doing is being tracked at all times.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, unveiled a bill this month called the Flock-Off Act that aims to restrict the use of federal funds for automated license plate reader cameras and biometric surveillance cameras.
President Trump stated his support for the technology Sunday.
“No, I sort of like them [Flock cameras] because of that, because of law enforcement. But some people don’t. They think it’s an infringement,” Trump said. He added, “I like them.”
