Sales: 844.796.1717   •   Support: 801.999.4767
  • Support Portal
  • Payment Portal
  • Remote Support
Protek Support
  • Utah Managed IT Services
  • Contact Us
  • About Protek Support
  • News
See Service Pricing

The Virtual Hand that Terrorizes the Cradle

Written By   Eric Woodard, CISSP
May 9, 2014 IT Services

b2ap3_thumbnail_internet_connected_security_400.jpgIn today’s connected home, Internet security needs to extend beyond the PC. Any device that’s connected to the Internet needs to be password protected, secured with a firewall, and utilize available security apps. These precautions should be taken even with seemingly harmless devices like baby monitors. A family from Ohio recently learned this lesson the hard way.

As reported by WXIX-TV in Cincinnati, a hacker was able to gain control of the family’s baby video monitor they used to keep an eye on their 10-month-old daughter via a touchscreen mobile device. The monitor sat on the corner of the baby’s crib and came equipped with audio capabilities so that the parents could remotely speak to their baby.

The mother was alerted to the security breach when she awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of a strange man’s voice coming from the baby’s room. Instinctively, she grabbed her mobile device to check on her child and discovered that the camera was moving on its own–a dead giveaway that her monitor was hacked.

Meanwhile, the father dashed to the baby room and found a terrifying surprise. “About the time I saw it moving, I also heard a voice again start screaming at my daughter. He was screaming, ‘Wake up baby! Wake up baby!’ Then just screaming at her trying to wake her up.”

As soon as the father became visible in the camera the hacker began yelling obscenities at him over the monitor. The dad jumped into action and quickly unplugged the camera. This successfully cut off the hacker’s connection to the monitor, but it couldn’t erase the psychological damage done to the innocent family.

In this scenario, the hacker’s agenda was to harass and terrorize. However, the lingering question that keeps these parents and other parents around the world using baby monitors awake at night (even more so than their crying baby), is how many hackers covertly peer into their homes and spy on their lives without alerting the family to their presence?

The scary answer to this question is that there’s really no way to easily know for sure who’s been watching your family through your Internet-connected camera, or even to know if you’re being watched right now! To make matters worse, it’s not necessarily the case that the hacker is a neighbor using your WiFi. It could easily be anybody on the Internet from anywhere in the world.

Unwelcome eyes spying on your home is a scary thought and this risk is growing as more household hardware is being connected to the Internet, like mobile devices, video game consoles, televisions, kitchen appliances, cars, thermostats, lights, and more. A mistake that many homeowners make is to connect their new device to the Internet without taking any security precautions. By not taking any precautions, you’re basically broadcasting to the world a virtual welcome mat giving hackers free roam to the insides of your home.

To get top-notch Internet security for every device used in your home and business, give COMPANYNAME a call at PHONENUMBER.

Tags: Privacy Security The Internet of Things
Share:
Eric Woodard

Eric is the owner and CEO of Protek Support and is a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional). He graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Business with an emphasis in Information Technology (IT). He is an IT Services expert in a variety of technology related fields. Some of these fields include document management software/hardware, enterprise level networking and VoIP phone systems, as well as large scale software implementation projects and the setup of small business networks.

Related Posts

April 29, 2021

How IT Services Can Help You With Your Office Move

April 1, 2021

What Are Proactive IT Services?

Recent Posts

  • File Sharing 101 and How to help eliminate risk
  • All about Microsoft Edge and why you should make the switch
  • Why you should use Microsoft Outlook on your mobile device
  • 2021 Hardware Shortages & Delays: What to expect?
  • Your Laptop Was Stolen, What To Do Next?

Archives

Categories

Address: 542 W 9320 S, Sandy, UT 84070
Phone: 801.999.4767