Baby monitors offer parents comfort in knowing their children are safe in their cribs. But what one Ohio family experienced with their unit was so terrifying it could lead you to rethink your own wireless security.
Heather and Adam Schreck were in for a surprise earlier this month when they say they awoke in the middle of the night to a hacker’s voice coming from their 10-month-old daughter’s monitor.
“All of a sudden, I heard what sounded like a man’s voice but I was asleep so I wasn’t sure,” Heather Schreck told WXIX-TV.
When she looked at her phone to check the camera, Heather said it was moving on its own. And that’s when the most terrifying thing happened.
“About the time I saw it moving, I also heard a voice again start screaming at my daughter,” she told the outlet. “He was screaming, ‘Wake up baby! Wake up baby!’ Then just screaming at her trying to wake her up.”
Adam then rushed into the baby’s room, at which point he told WXIX-TV that the camera turned to him and that the man’s voice began screaming obscenities.
The terrified parents subsequently unplugged the camera in an effort to stop the intrusion; they naturally feel violated as a result of the experience and believe someone hacked into the monitor from outside.
There’s no telling whether this was the first time or one of many that this unfolded.
“I was just absolutely shocked to see somebody could get into my house so easily,” Heather Schreck told WXIX-TV.
Tech experts warn that Internet-connected cameras can be used by hackers to break into networks and wage attacks from within them. Additionally, skilled hackers can spy on families and gather personal information.
This isn’t the first time this has happened and it probably won’t be the last. That said, there aresteps parents can take to secure their monitors.
Registering their products, using firewalls, and differentiating the passwords for wireless networks and monitors are among the safety steps that can be taken.
(H/T: Daily Mail)
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