Having a webcam in my fridge at first seemed like a dumb novelty until I used it while at the store once to see if i had the condiments i needed. I realized I could now bring up recipes at the store when i saw a certain meat on sale and see if i already had the ingredients on hand. Now im hooked and It’s now a feature I will look for down the road as new fridges are needed. Its that useful that I have added a webcam to my pantry for the same purpose now.

I think some of the comments here are just responding to the title without thinking a little more about what was needed and the consequences.

There is certainly a good case to be made that remote access to refrigeration management tech is very useful. But putting a custom app up on the open Internet is just about the absolute worst way to do it - this was basically destined to happen. This was critical infrastructure, and at the very least critical infrastructure like this should be behind a VPN or equivalent security layer.

This is like saying that ‘making a door’ was a bad idea since the thieves got in from it. Maybe the problem was leaving it unlocked?

Bless their hearts, they didn't know any better.

[dead]

This reads like tech commentary from someone's wine aunt.

Next we'll explore why you should unplug newfangled toasters and electric tea kettles: the hidden dangers that will burn your house down.

The specific reasons these fridges were remotely controlled has been detailed many times, including in lengthy HN comments.