Simon Balmain talks about the Rabbit r1 team's relationship with Modders, developers and hackers
A few hours ago, Rabbit Inc.'s communications and networking manager, Simon B. has released a statement to try to make some points clear about the company's relationship with external developers of all kinds.
And after the last events regarding the security of the Rabbit r1 raised alarms. That is why it seems that they have reflected on the issue and have put on the table some important points about development external to the AI gadget.
Developers for Rabbit Hole
First of all, it highlights those developers interested in working professionally or as amateurs in the integration of applications through webhook or directly with Rabbit Hole.
For the company, all of them are welcome and assure that they will work to have the best possible relationship to collaborate and try to expand the world of the Rabbit r1. They want to develop new ideas together and show their support for 100%.
Hardware and ROM Flashers
All of us who are fans of this world of technology —or almost all of us— have flashed mobile phones in the past. And that is why Simon understands his situation, but admits that it is impossible to support him officially.
However, he is aware that in the end, each user and owner of the device will use it individually despite what they may say. It must be made clear that Any software or hardware modification voids the warranty of the Rabbit r1.
Also note that as long as there are no malicious intentions, They will be willing to receive all of them on Discord to show their progress. It also encourages this community to even create tutorials that explain the procedure.
This has surprised me a lot, since although I understand your position and it seemed logical to me, I didn't expect them to be so clear about it.. It seems that they are very open to taking an alternative development path and that makes the projects grow.
It also clarifies that it is not the same "I want to do custom things with my r1" that “I want to connect directly to r1 services” / “I want to build my own r1”. There have to be limitations and establish them, which seems fine to me.
Ethical hackers and security researchers
Simon also welcome all those who try to discover the vulnerabilities of Rabbit r1. They really are important and having them around is always a plus. After the latest events it is more than necessary.
Unethical hackers
And this is where we get to the key point. Zero tolerance for hacking. As he comments in the publication, these practices not only put the company at risk but also the users, and that is unacceptable.
We are talking about trying to cause destruction to the company or users, the possession or exchange of stolen intellectual property or proprietary information, malicious hacking attempts to try to obtain user data, trade secrets, private materials, or through helping others who wish to cause us harm or reputational damage.
All this must be communicated to security@rabbit.tech so that it reaches the security department and the threat is eliminated. Consider that the Rabbit r1 works with sensitive user data and a leak would be devastating.
What do I think of all this?
Well then If you can not beat them, join them. In some companies there have been similar cases about mods or jailbreaks and they have closed communication prohibiting any matter related to it, which I think is a big mistake.
This type of development It's going to happen despite Rabbit. Whether they want it or not, there are going to be thousands of people trying to squeeze the most out of the device, getting the best out of it and looking to improve it. That's not going to change no matter how much a company wants it.
By opening the doors to all this, they have created a union that if they take advantage of well, will involve exceptional improvements to the gadget, since instead of having a limited development team, they will have a much larger community of users doing that work.
We will wait and see how it develops…
