{"id":2584478,"date":"2026-03-27T10:35:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maybe-it-wasnt-a-bug-internet-weighs-in-on-man-who-discovered-he-could-access-7000-robotic-vacuums\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:37:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:37:27","slug":"maybe-it-wasnt-a-bug-internet-weighs-in-on-man-who-discovered-he-could-access-7000-robotic-vacuums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maybe-it-wasnt-a-bug-internet-weighs-in-on-man-who-discovered-he-could-access-7000-robotic-vacuums\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Maybe It Wasn\u2019t a Bug\u2026&#8217; Internet Weighs In on Man Who Discovered He Could Access 7,000 Robotic Vacuums"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmaybe-it-wasnt-a-bug-internet-weighs-in-on-man-who-discovered-he-could-access-7000-robotic-vacuums%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2584478&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An episode involving Sammy Azdoufal, a Spanish software engineer, exposes a serious security flaw in DJI\u2019s Romo robot vacuums. After connecting a Romo to a PlayStation 5 controller, he found that his own remote-control setup could trigger thousands of vacuums worldwide and allow him to drive them, monitor their audio and video, and map homes. In about nine minutes, his laptop cataloged roughly 6,700 DJI devices across 24 countries and collected over 100,000 messages; when including DJI Power portable stations, the total surpassed 10,000 devices. He did not hack DJI\u2019s servers; he accessed his own data and, inadvertently, data from thousands of other customers. Following demonstrations reported by tech journalist Sean Hollister for The Verge, DJI fixed the vulnerabilities within two days. The story went viral, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >sparking social media commentary-ranging<\/a> from jokes to skepticism about the patch speed and broader IoT security concerns, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vance-ignores-polling-problems-and-embraces-hostile-interviews-in-harris-walz-attack-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Vance ignores polling problems and embraces hostile interviews in Harris-Walz attack - Washington Examiner\">including controversial remarks<\/a> about monitoring by Chinese entities. DJI reportedly planned to reward Azdoufal about $30,000 for discovering the flaw, and he ended up with a highly controllable, high-end vacuum, leading to a \u201cclean sweep\u201d in publicity and reward.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>What would you do if you had a global army of robot vacuums at your command?<\/p>\n<p>There are probably plenty of people whose first thought would be to cook up some sort of mischief, harmless or otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>But when it actually happened to Sammy Azdoufal, a Spanish software engineer, he ultimately decided to&hellip; report the issue to the vacuum manufacturer.<\/p>\n<p>But not before contacting tech expert Sean Hollister at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\/879088\/dji-romo-hack-vulnerability-remote-control-camera-access-mqtt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Verge<\/a>&nbsp;to demonstrate the startling vulnerability.<\/p>\n<p>It all started when Azdoufal had the bright idea to connect his DJI Romo robot vacuum to a PlayStation 5 game controller.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But when his homegrown remote control app started talking to DJI&rsquo;s servers, it wasn&rsquo;t just one vacuum cleaner that replied,&rdquo; Hollister reported. &ldquo;Roughly 7,000 of them, all around the world, began treating Azdoufal like their boss.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Azdoufal found he could control other vacuums, monitor their audio and video, and watch them map out houses.<\/p>\n<p>When he demonstrated his extraordinary level of access, Hollister wrote, &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe my eyes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I watched each of these robots slowly pop into existence on a map of the world. Nine minutes after we began, Azdoufal&rsquo;s laptop had already cataloged 6,700 DJI devices across 24 different countries and collected over 100,000 of their messages,&rdquo; he continued.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you add the company&rsquo;s DJI Power portable power stations, which also phone home to these same servers, Azdoufal had access to over 10,000 devices.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Azdoufal told Hollister he hadn&rsquo;t hacked into the company&rsquo;s servers or do anything else illegal.<\/p>\n<p>He just accessed his own data on the company&rsquo;s servers, and they provided him access to thousands of other customers&rsquo; data, too.<\/p>\n<p>Days after Azdoufal and Hollister notified the company about the vulnerabilities, DJI had corrected them.<\/p>\n<p>News outlets across the globe picked up on Hollister&rsquo;s story in The Verge, and the story went viral.<\/p>\n<p>Another tech expert, Mark Gadala-Maria, garnered millions of views with a post about it on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-acting-attorney-general-jeff-rosen-recently-wrote-an-essay-on-foreign-influence-in-us-elections-this-tells-us-a-little-about-his-knowledge-of-whats-going-on-today\/\" title=\"The New Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen Recently Wrote an Essay on Foreign Influence in US Elections \u2013 This Tells Us A Little About His Knowledge of What\u2019s Going On Today\">social media platform<\/a> X. He called the story &ldquo;insane&rdquo; &mdash; and not only because Azdoufal&rsquo;s high-tech vacuum retails for somewhere <a href=\"https:\/\/djidroner.com\/products\/dji-romo-robot-vacuum-cleaner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">around $2,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">This story is actually insane:<\/p>\n<p>&bull; dude drops $2000 on a DJI robot vacuum like a lunatic<br \/> &bull; refuses to use the normal app like a peasant<br \/> &bull; Sammy Azdoufal fires up Claude to crack the API so he can drive it with an xbox controller<br \/> &bull; Claude delivers the goods<br \/> &bull; pulls an auth&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VxJLXuHTTw\">pic.twitter.com\/VxJLXuHTTw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Gadala-Maria (@markgadala) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/markgadala\/status\/2026078762862006747?\">February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That post drew plenty of comments from readers, who had some thoughts on the situation.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I was wondering why the vacuum kept following my [girlfriend] to the shower,&rdquo; one joked.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I was wondering why the vacuum kept following my gf to the shower.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Andy (@Im_Jst_Sayn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Im_Jst_Sayn\/status\/2026126112036704330?\">February 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Another professed to be a &ldquo;bit disappointed he did not even attempt a minor coup with 7,000 vacuums.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Bit disappointed he did not even attempt a minor coup with 7,000 vacuums.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; zolayola (@zolayolanetwork) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/zolayolanetwork\/status\/2026227868573778207?\">February 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>More than one was skeptical about how quickly the company plugged the &ldquo;leak.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The funniest part is &lsquo;DJI fixes it in two days,&#8217;&rdquo; one observed. &ldquo;They had the ability to fix it that fast the whole time. They just never bothered until someone publicly embarrassed them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">the funniest part is &ldquo;DJI fixes it in two days.&rdquo; they had the ability to fix it that fast the whole time. they just never bothered until someone publicly embarrassed them. every IoT company has a security team that only activates when twitter finds the bug first.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Claudius Maximus (@ClaudiusMaxx) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ClaudiusMaxx\/status\/2026138012279537783?\">February 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The real story here is how many other [Internet of Things] devices have this exact same flaw but haven&rsquo;t had a curious engineer with an Xbox controller stumble upon it yet,&rdquo; another remarked.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The real story here is how many other IoT devices have this exact same flaw but haven&rsquo;t had a curious engineer with an Xbox controller stumble upon it yet.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; PureSignalX (@PureSignalX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PureSignalX\/status\/2026152407688687842?\">February 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Maybe it wasn&rsquo;t a bug &hellip; Maybe it was a feature,&rdquo; one observed. &ldquo;Maybe lots of Chinese electronics have this feature.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Maybe it wasn&rsquo;t a bug&hellip; Maybe it was a feature. Maybe lots of Chinese electronics have this feature<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Panic (@ThePanic16) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThePanic16\/status\/2026209267989025170?\">February 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Gadala-Maria confirmed that theory in a response to a similar post: &ldquo;if you have a Chinese device in your home with a camera you can safely assume it&rsquo;s being monitored by CCP,&rdquo; he wrote.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">if you have a Chinese device in your home with a camera you can safely assume it&rsquo;s being monitored by CCP<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Gadala-Maria (@markgadala) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/markgadala\/status\/2026307814855991365?\">February 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Aside from those rather troubling observations, it looks like a happy ending all around for Azdoufal.<\/p>\n<p>Not only does he now have a robot vacuum (or a &ldquo;stupidly expensive floor cleaner,&rdquo; as Gadala-Maria called it) that he can control with his PS5, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-in\/money\/news\/dji-to-pay-30000-to-man-who-accidentally-hacked-into-thousands-of-robot-vacuum-cleaners-here-s-what-the-company-said\/ar-AA1YtVGo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Times of India<\/a> recently quoted DJI as saying it plans to pay him a $30,000 reward for discovering the security flaw.<\/p>\n<p>You might even say he &ldquo;cleaned up&rdquo; on the deal.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a concise paraphrase of the piece:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The article asks what you\u2019d do if you could command a worldwide army of robot vacuums. While many might cause mischief, Sammy Azdoufal, a Spanish software engineer, chose to report a security flaw to the vacuum maker after showing the issue to The Verge\u2019s Sean Hollister.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Azdoufal connected his DJI Romo vacuum to a PlayStation 5 controller, and his homegrown remote-control app reached DJI\u2019s servers. The vulnerability let him access not only his own device but thousands of other vacuums. He could control them, monitor their audio\/video, and map homes. In a short time, his laptop logged about 6,700 DJI devices in 24 countries and over 100,000 messages; including DJI Power stations, the total exceeded 10,000 devices. He says he didn\u2019t hack into the company\u2019s servers-he only accessed his own data, which then exposed data from other users.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; After he and Hollister alerted the company, DJI fixed the vulnerabilities within a few days. The Verge\u2019s story and related reports went viral, with other tech commentators weighing in online. Reactions ranged from astonishment at the high-end vacuum\u2019s capabilities to jokes about the device\u2019s price and criticisms of how quickly DJI fixed the issue.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; DJI reportedly offered Azdoufal a $30,000 reward for uncovering the flaw, effectively \u201ccleaning up\u201d the situation for him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2584479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Robot-vacuum.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[19536,76652,76653],"class_list":["post-2584478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cybersecurity","tag-iot-security","tag-robot-vacuums"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Robot-vacuum.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2584478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2584478"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2584478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2584482,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2584478\/revisions\/2584482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2584479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2584478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2584478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2584478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}