Hackers Reverse Engineer Stolen Flock Surveillance Camera Data
A hacker group physically removed a Flock Safety camera, extracted its local data and revealed massive image collection metrics.
- By Jesse Jacobs
- Sep 21, 2026
A hacker collective known as stegan0gram physically dismounted a Flock Safety license plate reader camera, extracted its internal hardware data and reverse-engineered its software, according to a report by WKRN.
The group provided the extracted findings to media outlets following a physical breach of the field-deployed unit. The publication reported how data recovered from the device revealed that the single camera logged approximately 50,200 vehicles and generated roughly 1.6 million images during a 21-day operational window.
Analysis of the extracted data showed that the automated license plate reader (ALPR) routinely captures about 28 images per single vehicle encounter, with certain passes triggering more than 100 individual images. The hardware runs approximately 20 embedded applications designed for tasks such as motion detection and data transmission, capturing details including vehicle make, model, color and specific identifying features.
The physical reverse engineering revealed that initial optical capture occurs on the edge device before photos and metadata are transmitted over a cellular network. WKRN stated that plate identification and algorithmic feature matching are subsequently executed on central servers rather than on the hardware itself.
In a statement provided to news outlets, a spokesperson for Flock Safety noted that removing or tampering with deployed equipment is illegal. The company stated it maintains a public Vulnerability Disclosure Policy for reporting security risks and had not received a prior report regarding the incident from the group.