GENEVA (AP) – Swiss authorities on Monday confirmed a police attack on the home of a Swiss software engineer who earned credit for breaking into a US security camera company’s online networks, part of what the activist hacker mentioned as an attempt to raise awareness about the dangers of mass surveillance.
The Federal Office of Justice said the local police in the center of Lucerne, which acted on a legal aid request from US authorities, conducted a house search on Friday in which hooker Tillie Kottmann was involved.
The hacker said online that electronic devices were seized during the raid. The Swiss office declined to comment further on the location or comment, asking all questions to “the relevant US government”.
The FBI said in a statement on Friday that it was “aware of the law enforcement activity being carried out in Switzerland”, but did not comment further.
Kottmann identified himself as a member of a group of “hacktivists” who said they could watch live camera feeds Monday and Tuesday last week and look at hospitals, schools, factories, prisons and corporate offices after gaining access to the systems. has. of the California beginning Verkada. They said the action is aimed at raising awareness about mass surveillance.
Verkada later excluded them by eliminating all internal administrator accounts visited by the hackers with valid references found online. The company warned law enforcement and its customers.
Kottmann, who uses their / their pronouns, said on the social media website Mastodon last week that the raid was not specifically about the Verkada hood, but was linked to an earlier FBI investigation. Kottmann had earlier drawn attention to the leak of hacked material to expose security flaws, including from US disk maker Intel last year.
It is common for cyber security professional researchers to investigate online systems for security flaws, although “hacktivists” often take it a step further by exposing security risks or material leaked in public to effect social change.
Kottmann did not immediately return requests for comment.
Based in San Mateo, California, Verkada has deployed its cloud-based surveillance service as part of next-generation workplace safety. The software is noticed when people look at the camera, and a “Personal History” feature enables customers to recognize and track individual faces and other characteristics, such as clothing color and probable gender. Not all customers use the face recognition feature.
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O’Brien reports from Providence, Rhode Island.