Google Disables Nest Hub, Assistant On Xiaomi Devices After User Finds Strangers Images

Google Nest Hub Disabled On Xiaomi Devices

Here's what happened: A Xiaomi Mijia camera owner began getting still images from other homes when he tried to stream content from his camera to the Google Nest Hub. The issue was reported on Reddit, after which Google disabled the entire Xiaomi integration for Google Nest Hub and Assistant.

The user reported that the problem occurred on his Xiaomi Mijia 1080p Smart IP Security Camera, which was linked to his Google account. It was also reported that the Nest Hub and the Xiaomi Mijia camera were purchased new from AliExpress.

However, it remains unclear when the first feed of other people's images began appearing to his account. It is also unclear how long the camera was connected to his account before the still images were seen. He also reported that the camera is running firmware version 3.5.1_00.66.

Rising Security Flaws On Cameras

The user often found partly corrupted, random, black and white images of strangers when he tried to access his video feed from his connected camera. Out of the numerous such random images, the still image of a child sleeping and a man sleeping on a chair were found to be disturbing, he commented.

A Google spokesperson said in a statement that the company is "aware of the issue and are in contact with Xiaomi to work on a fix. In the meantime, we're disabling Xiaomi integration on our devices." However, the security lapses on such cameras show how easily such video feeds can be accessed and worse, misused.

This isn't the first time home security cameras have faced such problems. For now, Google has disabled its services linked with Xiaomi, but how the companies will sort out the security problem is still unknown.