Hackable Robot Lawn Mower Unlocks a New Nightmare
Security researcher nearly runs over reporter with hacked 200-pound lawn bot.
A security researcher found multiple vulnerabilities in Yarbo’s $5,000 robot lawn mower—a 200‑pound machine that can also work as a leaf blower, snowblower, and edger. The flaws could let hackers remotely take over the robot, access its camera feeds, and extract owners’ email addresses, Wi‑Fi passwords, and home locations. After a Yarbo spokesperson told The Verge the “diagnostic environment is not publicly accessible,” the reporter and researcher demonstrated the security flaws by nearly running over the reporter with a hijacked robot. The company says it is developing a fix for at least one of the identified flaws.
- Researcher remotely hijacked Yarbo's 200-pound lawn mower, controlling camera feeds and nearly running over a reporter.
- Vulnerabilities exposed Wi-Fi passwords, email addresses, and home locations of owners.
- Yarbo is developing a fix for one flaw but has not disclosed a full security patch timeline.
Why It Matters
Hackable outdoor robots pose physical safety risks, not just data breaches, highlighting IoT security gaps in consumer devices.