LOS CERRITOS
Winner of Fourteen LA Press Club Awards from 2012- 2017.
Serving Cerritos and Surrounding Communities • 86,000 Homes Every Friday • January 24, 2020 • Vol 34, No. 30
Ring Doorbell Vulnerable to Hackers, causes Privacy Concerns
ROTARY HONORS FIRST RESPONDERS FROM THE CERRITOS AND ARTESIA AREAS BY TAMMYE MCDUFF
BY BRIAN HEWS Ring, the popular internet-enabled video doorbell and home security camera, which was acquired by behemoth Amazon in 2018, has recently come under fire from legislators, security experts and customers for their own security flaws. Reports have surfaced that hackers had infiltrated the doorbell, using the camera and speaker to do everything from yell at people, to harass children, to hurling racial slurs. Brian Huseman, an Amazon vice president, said in a response to a letter, that the company takes “customer privacy and protection of customer data very seriously,” but acknowledged that the company had fired employees for improperly accessing customer videos. Yet, as usual, Amazon does not practice what it preaches. Over 3,600 Ring account holders were hacked in December 2019, exposing their personal information, Amazon said, “ the hack was caused by vulnerabilities of other systems, not its own.” And of course it is all about the sale and not security. Ring manufacturers hate to install rigorous security protocols for their product for fear of discouraging a sale promising that the doorbell can be installed “in just a few minutes, with no professional help required.” People do not like to change the default password or use other methods such as two-factor authorization, where a code is sent to your phone. But taking those steps is essential to hardening a consumer device against hacking. “A home security camera is not secure out of the box,” Brian Krebs wrote on his Krebs on Security blog. According to Ring and security experts, “the hackers acquired consumer IDs and passwords by breaching unrelated sites, then tried to see if the ID’s would work on Ring accounts. Ring blamed it on their customers while doing nothing to stop the hacks, “Unfortunately, when people reuse the same username and password on mul-
See RING page 14
Photo by Tammye McDuff
HONORED: from (l-r), Rotary President Hideki Maemoto, Crime Analyst Diana Moon, Deputy Welby Cham and Firefighter and Paramedic Joshua Swaney.
Senate Bill 50
BILL WOULD ALLOW APARTMENTS NEXT TO HOMES
Each year the Cerritos-Artesia Rotary Club holds an annual First Responder Awards dinner and ceremony at Frantone’s Pizza, this year the awards were held Tuesday, January 21st. The event honors the Sheriff of the Year and Fireman of the Year from both Cerritos and Artesia for their service to the community. Requests for award recipients are sent in to the Fire Chief at Station 30, and to the Cerritos and Lakewood Sheriff’s station The Rotary Club then notifies the cities whose officer was selected. Each honoree receives a Certificate of Recognition or Proclamation from the City’s of Artesia and Cerritos, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, Senator Bob Archuleta, Assembly member Cristina Garcia, County Supervisor Janice Hahn and the Cerritos-Artesia Rotary Club.
See RESPONDERS page 14
LA MIRADA CONTINUES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS STAFF REPORT'
to be placed on single-family lots. Cities would be prohibited from requiring anything more than two parking spots onsite for these new fourplex apartments. Several area City Council’s expressed strong opposition to SB 50 last year, and are doing so again to their legislators. The bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener, has introduced changes designed to disarm cities’ objections that the measure would remove control over their neigh-
The City of La Mirada continues to allocate significant resources to improve the City’s infrastructure preserving the community through well-maintained streets, sidewalks and landscaping. Safety remains among the City’s top priorities as officials improve lighting and traffic signals. Several capital improvement projects were completed in the past year and more are scheduled to begin construction later this year. Measure I funds have allowed the City to improve aging streets and roads over the past five years. Construction on Phase 5 neighborhood improvements, which covers the largest project area is complete. The project area included all residential streets bounded by Imperial Highway, Biola Avenue, Stage Road, Valley View Avenue, and Milan Creek. The improvements included replacement of damaged curb, gutter and sidewalk, upgrades to existing and placement of new handicap curb access ramps, removal and replacement of slotted cross gutters, and storm drain improvements. Traffic signal improvements were completed along La Mirada Boulevard to improve pedestrian and commuter safe-
See SB 50 page 12
See LA MIRADA page 12
SB 50 would reduce the zoning and planning rights of cities, and force cities to allow apartments of up to four units to be placed on single-family lots.
BY BRIAN HEWS A bill in Sacramento that was withdrawn last year after local communities and residents vehemently protested has been reintroduced and is moving ahead this month. SB 50 may be considered by the State Senate by Jan. 31, and by the State Assembly after that. SB 50 would reduce the zoning and planning rights of cities, and force cities to allow apartments of up to four units
