technology
Security Researcher Demonstrates Remote Takeover of Yarbo Robot Lawn Mowers
Andreas Makris showed he could seize control of Yarbo's 200-pound robotic lawn mowers from nearly 6,000 miles away, overriding safety features on devices located in the United States. The researcher accessed location data, owner email addresses, Wi-Fi passwords and GPS coordinates for thousands of the Chinese-made robots.
May 7, 1:35 PM·2m read1 source
slashgear.comAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
Developing·Limited corroboration so far. This page will refresh as more sources emerge.
A security researcher remotely took control of a 200-pound Yarbo robot lawn mower while it was operating in upstate New York and drove it over a person lying in its path to demonstrate security vulnerabilities. The researcher, Andreas Makris, was nearly 6,000 miles away and unable to physically reach the emergency stop button.
The demonstration occurred on May 7, 2026. The Verge reported that Makris had gained access to approximately 5,400 Yarbo devices in the United States and Europe, and was tracking more than 11,000 worldwide. " The robots, which use tank treads and modular attachments for mowing, trimming, leaf blowing, snow blowing and edging, run on a full Linux operating system.
The researcher found that access to one Yarbo robot grants access to all of them. He displayed a map showing locations of the devices and then took control of one that was actively mowing a field near a white house. Using an onscreen joystick, he directed its movement and camera while observing its live video feed.
Makris identified 12 Yarbo robots located within three kilometers of a major power plant. One of those robots appeared to be registered to a nuclear security analyst. He also extracted owners' email addresses, Wi-Fi passwords and exact GPS coordinates of their homes.
Four days after the initial demonstration, a reporter visited addresses provided by the hacked robots in the Silicon Valley foothills. At the first location, a Yarbo robot was found in the backyard exactly where the data indicated. The homeowner, Wayne Yu, confirmed that the email address and Wi-Fi passwords obtained by Makris belonged to him.
