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The popular video doorbell, owned by Amazon – Ring sent an email to it’s customers this morning informing them of a possible data breach at a third party, and are reassuring customers that there was no compromise of the Ring systems or network.
In a statement in an email sent to customers, Ring say: “You may have seen reports recently about our customers’ Ring accounts. Rest assured, we’ve investigated these incidents and did not find any indication of an unauthorised intrusion or compromise of Ring’s systems or network. However, even though Ring’s systems were not compromised, we do want to share how these issues occurred, and some easy steps you can take to further protect your Ring account and other online accounts.”
Ring continue, to explain what happened: “Malicious actors obtained some Ring users’ account credentials (e.g., username and password) from a separate, external, non-Ring service and reused them to log into some Ring accounts. When people reuse the same username and password on multiple services, it’s possible for malicious actors to gain access to many accounts. We’ve taken appropriate action to block these malicious actors and contacted all affected users directly.
What do Ring advise you do next?:
Enable Two-Factor Authentication.
Turn on this enhanced security feature in the Ring app to receive a unique code via text message to your phone whenever you or someone else attempts to log into your Ring account and is asked for your Ring password. Many other online services offer Two-Factor Authentication as well, and we encourage you to turn this feature on wherever available in your other online accounts.
Add Shared Users.
Don’t provide your login information to others. If you want to share access to your Ring devices with other people, simply add them as a Shared User. This allows you to maintain control of your account. And if you currently have Shared Users, please ask them to enable Two-Factor Authentication and follow the password best practices below.
Use different passwords for each account.
By using different usernames and passwords for your various accounts, you reduce the risk that a malicious actor could reuse credentials compromised from one account to access another of your accounts.
Create strong passwords.
When creating a password, use a mix of numbers, letters (both uppercase and lowercase), and symbols – embracing long, non-dictionary based words or phrases.
Regularly update your passwords.
It’s good practice to update your passwords every 3-6 months. If it has been more than 6 months since you last updated, we recommend updating it now.
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