The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposes more than $700,000 in fines against Eken, a Hong Kong-based video doorbell manufacturer whose products were found to be susceptible to hackers, for an unrelated rules violation discovered during the commission's ongoing investigation.
The commission began investigating Eken after Consumer Reports discovered in February 2024 that its products, which are sold under more than 10 different brand names, had security vulnerabilities that allowed anyone with a doorbell's serial number to remotely access images of its video feed. The products are sold under brand names including Aiwit, Andoe, Bitepass, CutePanda, Eken, Fishbot, Gemee, Guggre, Luckwolf, Rakeblue and Tuck. Eken said in April that it had since fixed the problems through a firmware update.
The investigation into those vulnerabilities is ongoing, but the commission also found that Eken violated rules requiring foreign companies that hold FCC device certifications to designate a U.S.-based agent responsible for communicating with the commission. .
As part of its investigation, the FCC's enforcement office sent a letter of inquiry to Eken's U.S. point of contact, a person located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but the address provided on those forms has been inactive since 2019, according to the FCC. The FCC says Eken's representative did not respond to letters sent by other means, including email.
“Providing a false address for the designated agent in three FCC applications constitutes three apparent violations of FCC rules resulting in three proposed maximum forfeiture penalties,” the FCC said in a news release Thursday. The FCC is proposing fines totaling $734,872.
The commission's investigation into Eken's team is ongoing.
