Hackers pulled down a Flock camera and found the encryption key inside

The device produced 1.6 million images in 21 days, exposing an edge-security problem at a startup valued at $7.5B in March 2025.

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Primary source: WIRED

Why it matters

Flock's value depends on cheap cameras surviving in public while preserving the evidence inside. A recovered key turns physical tampering into a product-security and customer-trust problem.

A security camera is shown partially disassembled on a workbench, its circuit boards and wires exposed with a soft internal glow.

Hackers physically removed a Flock Safety camera from above a roadway, copied much of its internal storage and recovered an encryption key that opened videos and still images captured by the device. The hardware compromise, detailed in a joint WIRED and 404 Media investigation and 404 Media's account published September 16th, shows how a roadside camera in Flock's…

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