Robots running units of the Henn-na hotel chain in Japan were discovered to have a security vulnerability that could expose guests to unwanted surveillance and abuse.

Security engineer Lance R. Vick discovered that Henn-na hotel group's Tapia robots 'can be converted to offer anyone remote camera/mic access to all future guests'. 

H.I.S Hotel Group admitted that people could gain unauthorised access to its 100 Tapia devices and apologised 'for any uneasiness caused', but only after Vick had given it 90 days warning and had taken to Twitter in exasperation to publicise his findings. 

The finding raised concerns about the security of Tapia robots and the transparency and accountability of H.I.S Hotel Group.

Timeline ⏰

• July 2015. The first Henn-na Hotel opens in Nagasaki as the world’s first robot-staffed hotel.

• July 2019. A guest notifies H.I.S. Hotel Group of a security vulnerability; the company dismisses the report.

• October 12, 2019. Security researcher Lance R. Vick publicly discloses the "0-day" vulnerability on Twitter after being ignored by the company for 90 days.

• October 16, 2019. H.I.S. Hotel Group acknowledges the vulnerability in 100 Tapia robots at the Maihama Tokyo Bay location.

• October 2019. The hotel issues a public apology and completes a "maintenance procedure" (software patch) to secure the robots.

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.tokyoreporter.com/business/robot-hotel-operator-announces-modification-to-prevent-hacks-by-guests/

• https://www.zdnet.com/article/hotels-in-room-assistants-could-have-been-used-to-spy-on-guests/

• https://gizmodo.com/how-to-ethically-hack-the-hotel-bedside-robots-a-gui-1839303207

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7608443/Japanese-robot-hotel-apologises-security-expert-exposes-hacking-flaw.html

• https://www.hotelmanagement.net/tech/japanese-hotel-bedside-robots-hacked

• https://www.fastcompany.com/90421411/wacky-robot-hotel-admits-its-bedside-cameras-could-have-exposed-guests-to-peeping-hackers

• https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/91157-japanese-hotel-apologizes-for-robots-that-allowed-video-and-sound-to-be-hacked

• https://www.newsweek.com/quirky-japanese-hotel-replaces-room-robots-when-they-turn-out-hackable-can-turned-peeping-toms-1467386