DJI to Pay $30K to Hacker Who Accidentally Exposed 7,000 Home Rovers

A Valentine’s Day hack gone right has earned a security researcher a hefty sum of money from the manufacturer of his unwittingly exploited devices. Sammy Azdoufal, a gamer who tried to control his DJI robot vacuum with a PlayStation gamepad, stumbled upon a network of 7,000 remote-controlled Romo robovacs that were vulnerable to exploitation. DJI had begun addressing some vulnerabilities before Azdoufal’s discovery, but the company may have been slow to respond. The incident echoes a past case involving security researcher Kevin Finisterre, who was reportedly paid for his discovery despite facing backlash from DJI. The amount of $30,000 is being offered as part of an undisclosed agreement reached between Azdoufal and DJI.