After Siminoff appeared on Season 5 of "Shark Tank," the business saw immense growth. 
 
 "It has now been four years since 'Shark Tank,' and the business is now valued at $1 billion," Siminoff said on an update for "Shark Tank" that aired Nov. 12, 2017. "Today we're over 1,300 people, 10 core products, [sold in] 16,000 stores." Ring even landed Virgin Group billionaire Richard Branson as an investor after he saw one of the company's products. 
 
 Richard Branson declined to comment on the Amazon deal to CNBC Make It through a spokesperson Tuesday. 
 
 Before his doorbell idea, Siminoff built and sold a handful of other companies, one for a price tag as high as $17 million in 2009, according to the Los Angeles Times. (The profits were split between Siminoff and his partners, and Siminoff invested his share in new businesses.) 
 
 He's a constant inventor who has been tinkering since he was 7 years old. Siminoff remembers projects like a blanket through which he could pump icy water from an aquarium to cool down on hot summer days as a kid. And despite early success with other businesses, like SimulScribe, offering voicemail transcription services, or Unsubscribe, which promised to declutter email inboxes, he wasn't fulfilled. None of his ventures had captured his whole imagination. 
 
 So in late 2010, Siminoff set up shop in his garage and put all his focus into dreaming up new products. There was just one problem: He couldn't hear the doorbell ring from his work space. He looked for a product that could buzz his phone with a notification when someone rang and couldn't find one. 
 
 "I literally built myself a WiFi doorbell," he said, not seeing it as a future business but a solution to an annoying problem. He remembered thinking, "I need this damn thing so I can be in my garage inventing." 
 
 Then his wife remarked how much safer she felt with a device that could tell you who was knocking before you let them inside. When he began to envision a bigger mission around home security, he realized he'd found his idea. ||||| Ring 
 
 Amazon is to splash $1 billion to acquire smart home security company Ring – a company made famous for its video doorbell series. The move comes hot on the heels of Amazon's acquisition of Blink, another company with a video doorbell in its range, for $90 million back in January. 
 
 Having Ring in-house should have a big impact on Amazon’s Key platform – the service that combines a smart security camera and a smart lock for keyless entry, guest access and, most crucially for the e-retail giant, in-home deliveries. 
 
 When I spoke to Ring founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff in late 2017, for a profile on my smart home website The Ambient, he responded to a question about the effectiveness of Amazon Key: 
 
 “Amazon is both an investor in Ring as well as a strong partner, so we have a lot of respect there but, in this instance with what they’ve done, I was never a fan of how this was put together. I don’t believe the seal around the home should ever be breached by a third-party company. No matter how many cameras you have and how much control you have over it, I just don’t think it’s a good idea. 
 
 “To me it’s backwards because Amazon is usually so thoughtful around scale and when you’re doing like 50 million interactions a day, even if the smallest percentage – like 0.0001% goes wrong – that could be like five deaths a day!” 
 
 Siminoff told me that that the system could be done better and that something similar was on the Ring roadmap. “We have a lot of ideas around how to do it differently,” he explained. “Long term, the way we’re looking at things is a better fit for consumers and for companies themselves." 
 
 Chances are then, that we’ll get to see that “better fit” play out on a grander scale, with Ring reportedly set to continue as a brand under the Amazon roof. The Seattle giant is said to be planning on allowing Ring to operate independently, with Siminoff staying on as CEO of Ring. 
 
 With Nest also now in the video doorbell market, with its Hello device, it's certainly a boom time for an emerging tech genre. ||||| January 18, 2018 
 
 There's much to report on Ring after CES 2018. The famous maker of video doorbells apparently has settled with ADT in the “Zonoff” lawsuit and will launch its newly branded Ring Alarm system soon. Also, Ring enhanced its surveillance app, and acquired the wireless lighting company Wireless Environment, LLC, dba Mr. Beams. Details on the acquisition below, and forthcoming. 
 
 First, the lawsuit. ADT filed a claim last year, alleging Ring stole IoT-related intellectual property from a now-defunct platform-developer called Zonoff. By that time, ADT had sunk $36 million into Zonoff to develop Z1, a SHaaS (smart home as a service) platform that would be used in two new security and automation systems from ADT. Those solutions never materialized. 
 
 A single source says Ring and ADT settled for $25 million, but the figure cannot be confirmed. That amount would be twice what Ring offered ADT last year to make the lawsuit go away. As CE Pro exclusively reported back then, ADT had declined that original $12.5 million offer. ADT put its own Zonoff property on the auction block, but apparently never sold it. 
 
 The next question is this: Won’t Alarm.com sue Ring now? More on that below. 
 
 Ring Protect Becomes Ring Alarm 
 
 It was just a few months ago that Ring announced the new Ring Protect security and home automation system based on Zonoff's Z1. Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff has maintained all along that his company rightfully owns the technology through a $1.2 million contract it had with Zonoff before Zonoff shut down. 
 
 The unsympathetic judge in the case at the Delaware Chancery Court issued a temporary restraining order to halt sales of Ring Protect – apparently an unusual move since his honor was still deciding the case. 
 
 Ring Alarm is a scary prospect for the status quo in security and home automation. 
 
 Now that the lawsuit is reportedly settled, Ring will start shipping the newly branded “Ring Alarm” this spring. We imagine the company dropped the "Protect" moniker because Nest already uses the brand for its smoke/CO detectors. 
 
 Nest’s competing security system is called Nest Secure. 
 
 RELATED: Alarm.com & Icontrol Lawsuits 
 
 Ring Alarm is a scary prospect for the status quo in security and home automation. The service will cost just $10 per month for remote access, professional security monitoring, cellular back-up, and 30 days of video storage for an unlimited number of cameras … with no long-term contracts required, 
 
 Service like that usually starts at $30 on the low end, but typically costs over $50 per month with a two- or three-year contract. 
 
 Yikes! Traditional providers won’t be happy. On paper, Ring Alarm looks pretty sweet, with ZigBee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular radios in a hub that also includes a siren and 24-hour back-up battery. 
 
 A starter kit costs $199 for the Ring Protect Base Station, one keypad, one door/window sensor, one motion detector and a Z-Wave range extender. 
 
 That’s obscenely cheap. The closest equivalent is the ADT/Samsung SmartThings security and alarm system that retails for $450 and starts at $24.99/month for security monitoring and interactive services (no contract required). Granted, the Samsung product has a nice touchscreen, a much broader feature set, and a proven system with Nortek's 2Gig as the hardware provider. 
 
 Ring is still building out its ecosystem for the Alarm product. At CES, the company announced a water sensor, as well as a smoke/CO listener that reacts to the sound of a dumb smoke/CO detector. These, like the other announced sensors communicate via Z-Wave. 
 
 Furthermore, it appears Ring might be the first to incorporate the new Z-Wave SmartStart technology into its products, dramatically simplifying the process for enrolling devices into a system. 
 
 Will Alarm.com Sue? 
 
 Here’s the big and very complilcated question: Ring may have settled with ADT, but what about Alarm.com (Nasdaq: ALRM)? Will the very popular SHaaS provider move forward with a lawsuit against Ring? 
 
 Last year, Alarm.com inherited some patents from erstwhile competitor Icontrol, which it acquired last year (Comcast bought part of Icontrol, as well). At the time, Icontrol was in the process of suing Zonoff for patent infringement. 
 
 With Ring’s very threatening business model, it seems Alarm.com would absolutely continue the lawsuit it inherited … if the company believes there’s infringement (in general, merging professional security monitoring with interactive home automation via the cloud). 
 
 UNLESS … 
 
 It’s possible Alarm.com quietly “settled” with Ring when ADT settled with the doorbell giant, earning some kind of licensing agreement in exchange for kiboshing a patent suit. 
 
 ADT is Alarm.com’s customer for at least five years, thanks to a deal negotiated during the Icontrol acquisition. ADT had been Icontrol’s flagship customer since basically day one. 
 
 That could be one reason that Alarm.com isn’t suing ADT and Samsung SmartThings for their latest offering – a DIY security and home automation system powered by Nortek’s 2Gig. 
 
 Alarm.com still has lawsuits pending against competitors SecureNet and ipDatatel. 
 
 It would be really surprising if Alarm.com were to allow Ring to go forward unimpeded. Ring will be a real threat to Alarm.com’s business model, even though Ring targets DIYs and Alarm.com goes to market through professional installers. 
 
 More Developments at Ring 
 
 In addition to the Alarm-specific news, Ring introduced some other goodies at CES, including a relationship with pitchman Shaquille O’Neal (“Defend Your Home Court Like Shaq!), a real-life sheriff who made an appearance at the show. 
 
 In case you’re wondering, Ring’s products are “Approved by Sheriff Shaq,” who is “more than just a big person with a big personality.” 
 
 Also at CES, Ring introduced a “revamped” Stick Up Cam, the company’s “first-ever” indoor/outdoor camera. 
 
 More interestingly, Ring is improving its app and back-end services. Users will be able to group cameras by location and view multiple cameras from a single screen. Also, new “preview tiles” will give users a “sneak peek” of every camera in an ecosystem, and a new event timeline will provide a “scrubbed” view of video to present the most important events of the day. 
 
 Finally, Ring acquired a lighting company called Wireless Environment, LLC, dba Mr. Beams. Stay tuned for more details on that company and its patent portfolio. ||||| (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has agreed to buy video doorbell maker Ring, the companies said on Tuesday, in what analysts see as a growing bet on delivering packages inside of shoppers’ homes and on home security. 
 
 The deal valued Ring at more than $1 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Amazon declined to discuss the terms. 
 
 Ring is set to be one of Amazon’s most expensive takeovers, after its $13.7 billion deal last year for Whole Foods Market. 
 
 The world’s largest online retailer believes that selling internet-connected gadgets from Kindle e-readers to its new Cloud Cam will spark more shopping on Amazon.com. Ring offers the company a popular consumer electronics brand that it might not have replicated internally. 
 
 More importantly, Ring’s security devices could work well with Amazon Key, a smart lock and camera system that lets delivery personnel put packages inside a home to avoid theft or, in the case of fresh food, spoiling. 
 
 “As Amazon moves more aggressively into the grocery delivery space... we believe smart security devices will be an important factor in driving user adoption,” Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian said in a note. 
 
 Amazon’s Alexa Fund, which offers venture capital to companies working on voice technology, invested in the Santa Monica, California-based Ring. 
 
 Currently, Ring devices can integrate with Amazon’s voice-controlled assistant Alexa. Users of Amazon’s Echo Show device can say, “Alexa, show my front door” to receive a live feed of activity around their home via Ring cameras. 
 
 The deal creates potential for much more, analysts said. 
 
 “Amazon more than Ring can revolutionize home security,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said. 
 
 U.S. security and alarm company ADT could be the biggest loser, he added. Ring’s “camera technology is far superior to physical security ... With Amazon having roughly 100 million Prime members, that’s a big addressable market for them to start selling this into.” 
 
 Shares of ADT Inc (ADT.N) fell more than 2 percent after the news to close at $11.60. Amazon stock closed down 0.7 percent. 
 
 Amazon was working on a competing smart lock with camera prior to the deal, according to a separate person familiar with the matter. Its decision to buy Ring underscores the task startups have trying to win in the home security space. 
 
 “For consumer businesses, it’s going to be challenging to compete with folks like Google and Amazon,” said Luke Schoenfelder, chief executive of Latch, which sells smart lock systems to apartment building owners. 
 
 Amazon acquired the maker of Blink home security cameras for about $90 million late last year, Reuters reported. ||||| Two women who captured international attention when they were rescued by the U.S. Navy five months after setting sail from Hawaii defended themselves Wednesday from claims that they lied about some of the details of their tale of being lost at sea. 
 
 Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava stuck to their guns as Matt Lauer pointed out holes in their story on the Today show. 
 
 Appel and Fuiava – both Americans – were found 900 miles southeast of Japan last month, wildly off course from their planned route of Hawaii to Tahiti. 
 
 The women claimed they survived a storm with 25-foot waves that hit early on in their trip. However Lauer pressed them on that claim, saying that the U.S. Coast Guard had no record of a storm of that size in the area. 
 
 “I believe the storm advisory that the U.S. Coast Guard did put out… was anticipated to be smaller,” Appel said. “If you were there you would say the same thing that I did, it really felt a lot bigger.” 
 
 The pair also faced questions about their claims that they were surrounded by sharks whacking their tails against the hull of their boat. Experts have said that sharks have never been recorded behaving that way, Lauer told the women. 
 
 Fuaiva said their encounter with the sharks was “absolutely terrifying.” 
 
 Appel said they never activated their distress beacon when the sharks surrounded them because it would have taken too long for them to be rescued. Instead, she said, they prayed to God. 
 
 In a bizarre turn to the interview, Appel pulled out a GPS device she said they used on their journey. “Garmin makes a great product,” she said, smiling. She also eagerly interrupted Lauer when he mentioned they used a water purifier on their trip, interjecting with the name of the brand – Katadyn. 
 
 Ted Gartner, the Director of Corporate Communications at Garmin International, told TIME: “Garmin only found out about their Today show interview after it aired. To my knowledge, we have not had any contact with either woman, nor have we compensated either of them in any way.” 
 
 Katadyn could not be immediately reached for comment. ||||| A Seattle cybersecurity firm has demonstrated a way to knock Amazon's new security camera offline, effectively disabling the security feature the company built to reassure users of its new Amazon Key in-home delivery service. 
 
 A Seattle-based group of cybersecurity researchers has demonstrated a way to knock Amazon’s new security camera offline, a capability that could enable malicious delivery drivers for the online retailer’s new in-home delivery service to snoop around a house undetected. 
 
 Amazon Key, which became available to customers last week, gives Amazon delivery drivers one-time access to a residence to drop off a package. The program, designed to eliminate the theft of packages left outside a home and to open up the potential for remote authorization of other home services, is a test of whether consumers trust Amazon enough to give the online retailer access to the front door. 
 
 It relies on two pieces of hardware: a smart lock, and Cloud Cam, which communicates with Amazon’s servers to authorize the driver to unlock the door, and then records the delivery, beaming live or recorded video to a smartphone app to give the homeowner peace of mind. 
 
 Rhino Security Labs, a security research outfit based in Capitol Hill, showed that it could exploit a weakness in the Wi-Fi protocol that Cloud Cam and many other devices use to communicate with their router. A savvy hacker within Wi-Fi range can send a series of “deauthorization” commands to a specific device, temporarily severing its link to the internet. 
 
 In the case of Amazon’s Cloud Cam, that means the camera would stop recording and sending images to Amazon’s servers. A delivery driver who had already received approval to unlock the front door could, before exiting and locking the door, roam inside without being recorded. Or, as demonstrated in a video posted by Rhino, leave the home and re-enter undetected. 
 
 Part of the problem, Rhino Chief Executive Benjamin Caudill said, is that during such internet interruptions, Cloud Cam doesn’t immediately go dark or tell the user it is offline. The company’s test instead shows that the Cloud Cam smartphone app displays a still frame of the last image the camera saw before losing its connection, which could give the impression the device was functioning properly. 
 
 “You can do this multiple times over without any sort of alert or log at all,” he said in an interview. “Now I, as a bad guy, have blocked the signal and blocked your camera, and, unless you are specifically thinking this is an attack, there’s no way for you to verify that this had happened,” said Caudill, whose findings were reported earlier Thursday by Wired. 
 
 Amazon said in a statement that safety and security “are built into every aspect of the service,” and reiterated that Amazon Key’s delivery drivers, employed by contracting firms, have to pass comprehensive background checks. 
 
 “Every delivery is connected to a specific driver, and before we unlock the door for a delivery, Amazon verifies that the correct driver is at the right address, at the intended time,” the company said. 
 
 Still, Amazon said it planned to roll out a software update this week that will notify customers sooner if the camera goes offline during a delivery. 
 
 The company said its initial read on Rhino’s findings were that they posed little risk to customers. The Wi-Fi vulnerability cannot unlock the front door, for instance, and if a driver does act maliciously, Amazon would have a record of the individual and their vehicle. The company also reiterated the guarantee it offers for home services — a broad pledge to help make things right if customers file a claim after something goes wrong. 
 
 Still, the discovery is a reminder that internet-connected devices like the Cloud Cam can be exploited by bad actors. 
 
 Some were skeptical of Amazon Key when it was introduced, raising the prospect of theft, damage to a home or lost pets. 
 
 Research firm Morning Consult found that 68 percent of U.S. adults it surveyed said they were not comfortable letting delivery drivers have access to their home. Young people, the survey found, were most comfortable with the idea, with 33 percent of the 18- to 29-year-old cohort saying they were comfortable with the idea, compared to just 14 percent of the over-65 bracket. 
 
 Amazon has a generally good reputation for cybersecurity, Caudill said, particularly for its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services. 
 
 But some in the security community were wary when Amazon Key was announced. “So we kind of set out fairly quickly to provide some tangible details” on the service’s security, he said. 
 
 Caudill said the issue his team identified could be remedied if Cloud Cam stored footage on the device itself if it lost internet connectivity. The camera’s video recordings are stored now only on Amazon’s servers for between 24 hours and 30 days, depending on a customer’s subscription plan. 
 
 Securing the growing array of internet-connected devices, from security cameras to stoves and garage-door openers, represents the biggest cybersecurity challenge since the advent of smartphones, Caudill said. “I think people are almost constantly taking risks they don’t realize, because they think things like this don’t happen,” he said. ||||| CLOSE A north Phoenix resident said he wants to warn others that these devices aren't as secure as you may think. William Flannigan, azcentral 
 
 The hacker said he was one of the good guys but others could exploit the same vulnerability. 
 
 Andy Gregg, a real-estate agent in north Phoenix, says a hacker spoke to him through his Nest security camera. (Photo: Agnel Philip/The Republic) 
 
 Andy Gregg was in his back yard a few weeks ago when he heard a voice he didn't recognize inside his house. 
 
 It was dark, and Gregg, who lives in the north Phoenix, said his first thought was somebody had broken into his home. 
 
 The source of the voice surprised him: It was coming from a Nest Cam IQ security camera in his front window. 
 
 The man speaking to him through the camera said he was a "white hat" hacker in Canada with the group Anonymous. He told Gregg his private information had been compromised. 
 
 The hacker couldn't see images through the camera and didn't know where Gregg lived, he said. But he told Gregg such information wouldn't be hard to find. 
 
 The man then recited a password Gregg had used for multiple websites. 
 
 "I'm really sorry if I startled you or anything. I realize this is super unprofessional, and I'm sorry that it's a little late in the day to do this," the hacker can be heard telling Gregg on a recording of the interaction provided to The Arizona Republic/azcentral. 
 
 “I'm really sorry if I startled you or anything. ... We don't have any malicious intent.” Voice in video of Nest security cam 
 
 "We don't have any malicious intent." 
 
 The hacker said he had accessed Gregg's camera to warn him about its security vulnerabilities. Other hackers, he said, might exploit the same gaps for nefarious ends. 
 
 Gregg said he changed his passwords and unplugged the camera. 
 
 "You basically feel very vulnerable," Gregg said. "It feels like you've been robbed essentially and somebody's in your house. They know when you're there. They know when you're leaving." 
 
 Connected devices vulnerable to hacks 
 
 Experts have long warned that wireless internet-connected devices similar to Gregg's Nest — the Amazon Alexa, Google Home, smartphones and smart appliances— have glaring security vulnerabilities. 
 
 These devices, popular holiday gifts and part of what's known as the "internet of things," have become more common even as the industry has struggled to address security concerns. 
 
 MORE: 'Hacker' who talked to man via Nest camera warns about tech vulnerabilities 
 
 Georgia Weidman, founder of IT security company Shevirah, said consumers are often unaware of these vulnerabilities or lack the technological know-how to keep their devices safe from attacks. 
 
 "We buy things — they're cool or make our lives easier — and we don't think about the security implications," she said. "In order for an end-user consumer to secure their devices, they basically have to be a security expert." 
 
 CLOSE The nation's largest homebuilder is rolling out the welcome mat for Amazon's Alexa. See the high-tech bells and whistles being built into new Lennar homes. USA TODAY 
 
 Gregg, who is a real-estate agent, said people don't fully appreciate the risk associated with bringing such devices into their homes. Before the incident, he had given Nest cameras as gifts to his clients to celebrate the closing of a deal. 
 
 "I have a ton of clients in real estate that use these things to watch their kids. They'll watch their living rooms, they'll keep them all over the house for their protection," he said. "But these hackers can go in there, and if they can watch your kids while they're sleeping or changing, just think of what they can do with that." 
 
 Cameras have been accessed before 
 
 Gregg isn't the first Nest customer to claim an outsider accessed his or her camera. Earlier this year, a New York family said someone used their indoor camera to talk to their 5-year-old son, according to TV station WPIX. 
 
 Last year, a security researcher exposed a flaw in the company's security cameras that allowed them to be disabled by a hacker. The company said that vulnerability has been addressed. 
 
 MORE: Should social media be regulated? Support grows for protecting data 
 
 Nest, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, said in a statement it is aware that passwords stolen in hacks of other companies have been used to access its cameras. The cameras can't be wirelessly controlled without a customer-created username and password and don't come with default logins. 
 
 The company, which also sells smart thermostats and door locks, recommends setting two-factor authentication for such devices to add an additional layer of security. 
 
 Nest's website says the devices automatically update, although users may not receive them immediately because the company sends them to only a portion of its cameras at a time. 
 
 How to protect your devices 
 
 CLOSE To prevent criminals from opening bank, utility and phone accounts in your name, you need more than a credit freeze. Here's what to do. USA TODAY 
 
 Weidman said people who buy internet-connected devices should make sure they read the documentation that comes with it to ensure they know how to keep the software up to date. 
 
 She also said people must change default passwords that come with the device and use a different password for each account and device. But she said for those with dozens or hundreds of accounts, that may not be possible. 
 
 MORE: Criminals hacked into my phone and drained my checking 
 
 "I recognize that this is a hard problem that we haven't solved," she said. 
 
 Even after taking those steps, Weidman warns no device is completely secure. 
 
 "You'll be ahead of most people at that point," she said. "Will it be 100 percent secure? No, the devices just aren't built to be 100 percent secure. But you'll be out of the low-hanging-fruit range." 
 
 Agnel Philip is an investigative reporter at The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com. Reach him at aphilip@gannett.com, on Twitter at @agnel88_philip or on Facebook. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/consumers/2018/12/03/phoenix-man-hacker-broke-talked-nest-security-cam-home/2115698002/
– Five years ago, Jamie Siminoff left the ABC show Shark Tank "in tears" after a "smart" doorbell he created was spurned. On Tuesday, Ring, the company he built around that invention, was sold to Amazon in a deal Reuters reports as being worth more than $1 billion—one of the e-commerce giant's largest buys and what CNBC says is perhaps its "smartest deal yet." The doorbells sold by Ring are hooked into a home's video cameras so users can see who's lingering on their front stoop. One Wedbush analyst tells the Los Angeles Times the acquisition "shows how serious Amazon is about privacy and security" and could boost the online retailer's efforts to make inroads in home security. It also positions Amazon better in its competition with Google, which has its own lines of smart home gadgets under the Nest brand, and could help Amazon combat some of its delivery issues, per Forbes. Siminoff, who thought up the concept after noting he couldn't hear his doorbell ring while he was toiling away in his garage, showed up on Shark Tank in 2013 with his product, which he then called Doorbot, CNBC reports. Out of all the show's judges, only Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary made Siminoff an offer on the WiFi-enabled doorbell, and it was an unappealing one. "It was horrible. I could not believe that we had done all of that work and were walking away with nothing," Siminoff wrote on his blog in 2015. But business took off after that, with publicity from Siminoff's appearance on the show proving to be a major factor. "That drove sales to $3 million within the year," he said on a recent update for the show. One firm that's not thrilled with Ring: home security company ADT, which sued the startup for intellectual property theft over one of its products. That suit has reportedly been settled.