As the future unfolds day-by-day, we’ve all become more accustomed to technology infiltrating our lives.

We all accept as commonplace, computers in our pockets (phones), computers in our cars, computers on our desks, etc.

A hotel in Japan has run into some trouble with a line customer-facing convenience robots that unfortunately had a security flaw.

A story from Popular Mechanics details the trials and tribulations of the Henn-Na Hotel in Nagasaki, Japan. The hotel’s robots, located in every guest bedroom and functioning similarly to an Amazon Echo with Alexa, could be hacked into remotely for video and audio feed.

One security engineer “found that the bed-facing Tapia robots—created by MJI Robotics in Tokyo, Japan after a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $14,500 back in 2016—could be hacked, allowing access to the cameras and microphones, remotely,” the story explains. “That made it possible for hackers to watch and listen to guests.”

Part of the problem may lie in the fact that the hotel laid off pertinent robotics focused employees.

“The company is focused on creating the hotel of the future, but has also laid off some of its robotic staff in the past because they were more troublesome than helpful,” the story said.

Norris’ team of professional life-safety and security experts understand the importance of network security and can be counted on to make sure that the IT backbones they set up are secure.

Contact a Norris systems integrator today to find out how we can help keep your visitors, guests, customers or students safe!

What is Norris all about?
Norris, Inc.—a South Portland, Maine-based life-safety and security systems integrator with satellite offices in Bangor, Maine; Lee, New Hampshire; and Burlington, Vermont—was founded nearly 40 years ago by two brothers, Brad and Harty Norris. The brothers remain on the board of directors today and continue to help steer the enterprise toward its goal of advancing life-safety, security, and communications while striving to grow in its status as Northern New England’s leading systems integrator. Norris provides fully integrated life-safety and security solutions, comprising disparate systems including fire alarm, intrusion detection, access control, video surveillance, communications, and emergency notification and total systems integration via the Vigilance Systems Integration Engine and ENS. Want to become part of the Norris family? We’re hiring!