Security Flaw Lets Hackers Take Control of Yarbo Robot Lawnmowers, Raising Safety Risks

Autonomous lawnmowers equipped with sharp blades and connected to the internet pose serious security risks if left vulnerable to hackers. Reporter Sean Hollister of The Verge experienced this firsthand when a hacker took control of his Yarbo robot lawnmower.

Hollister described the terrifying ordeal in a recent article:

“I’m lying in the dirt. It’s coming for me. Then, with a lurch, it’s climbing up my chest. If Andreas Makris doesn’t stop the 200-pound robot lawn mower in time, it could drag its blades across my body.”

Fortunately, Hollister was unharmed. Makris, a white hat hacker based in Germany, remotely accessed the robot to highlight a critical security flaw. He explained,

“I can do whatever I want with all the bots. It’s completely unsecured.”

Makris discovered that Yarbo robots shared the same root password, making it possible for a black hat hacker to seize control of thousands of devices globally. He created a map showing the locations of over 11,000 Yarbo robots worldwide, revealing a potential global security threat.

The risks extend beyond physical harm. Makris demonstrated that he could access:

• Robot owners’ email addresses
• Wi-Fi passwords
• GPS coordinates of their homes

Even changing the root password wouldn’t fully protect users, as Yarbo’s firmware updates reset the password to the default. Makris also found that Yarbo intentionally included a backdoor for remote access, which cannot be disabled by owners.

“It is deployed automatically to every robot, cannot be disabled by the owner, and is actively restored if removed,” Makris told The Verge.

After Yarbo ignored his warnings, Makris published his findings. The company responded by insisting that

“your Yarbo remains completely secure and under your exclusive control.”

Hollister decided to test the security flaw firsthand by lying under the robot lawnmower. He wrote,

“As the first hundred pounds of metal, plastic, and far-too-hackable computer pin my body to the ground — and Makris eventually, thankfully, backs off — I realize this science experiment wasn’t quite as safe as I thought.”