Hackers are hacking robot vacuum cleaners to spy on you, chase your pets, and hurl verbal abuse. The makers claim that users don't need to worry about this.

We've welcomed smart devices in our homes, from thermostats to lighting to televisions. But they can be surprisingly hackable. Robot vacuum cleaners can be hacked, as Minnesota lawyer Daniel Swenson discovered earlier this year after his Ecovacs Deebot X2 robovacuum began spewing filth.

ABC News reported that the robovacuum continued to hiss and scream racist insults even after Swenson had changed his Ecovacs password. Swenson only stopped the tirade when he turned off the device. He has kept it in his garage ever since.

ABC News has catalogued a number of incidents, including the one in which an El Paso resident's Ecovacs came to life at night and unleashed a torrent of racial insults. A dog owned by a homeowner in LA was also terrorised by a hack Ecovacs Deebot Omni.

Security researchers warned Ecovacs in December 2023 about a series of security vulnerabilities that they discovered across a variety of their robovacuums. Ecovacs reportedly did not communicate these issues to many end users.

ABC News found that the device's Bluetooth connection is a way for hackers to connect. They were able to connect with an Ecovacs device from more than 100 metres (and four stories up). The fact that you need to be physically near the device suggests that this was not the primary exploit used in the cyber attacks earlier this past year. And when Mr Swenson repeatedly contacted Ecovacs through US-based support staff, they told him his account had most likely been subject to a 'credential stuffing cyberattack'.

Ecovacs said in a statement sent to TechCrunch: "Users need not worry excessively because the security vulnerabilities highlighted are extremely rare and require specialized hacking tools."

ABC News' investigation suggests otherwise. It claims that it was able access the camera and mic of an Ecovacs X2 Omni using the Bluetooth exploit. All you needed was a smartphone, plus a little assistance from Dennis Giese, one of the security experts who discovered the exploit.

Ecovacs has assured me that a security upgrade for the X2 will be available in November. However, I am still removing the robot vacuum cleaner from my wishlist. Maybe I'll also get some duct-tape and cover my laptop's built-in webcam while I'm there...