A Kansas family are the latest victims of a hacked nanny cam, after noticing the device they bought to monitor their three-month-old baby was also monitoring them, reports Fox News.
First-time mom Megan Klaasen was tending to her son, Decker, when she saw the baby monitor change focus seemingly of its own accord, following her as she moved first to the side and then out of the room altogether. Klaasen said she was "shocked, angry and scared" when she realized the feed was being watched and controlled by strangers, and the case highlights just how easy it is for hackers to snoop on your most private moments.
Earlier this month, a family in Minnesota uncovered another creepy case of nanny cam spying, after they heard mysterious music coming from the nursery that was being piped in by hackers. This follows previous victims like the Gilbert family in Texas, who were horrified to discover somebody had verbally abused their sleeping toddler through a webcam.
Owners of internet-connected baby monitors are encouraged to secure their devices from prying eyes. This includes everything from following good password practice and protecting Wi-Fi networks with the highest encryption, to installing a firewall and registering devices to receive all of the latest upgrades and patches.
As homes become increasingly reliant on the Internet of Things, it's not just baby monitors at risk, but also kitchen appliances, garage doors, air conditioning and more. For instance, researcher Nitesh Dhanjani demonstrated how hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in Phillips' smart lightbulbs to create 'blackouts' in homes that don't properly protect them.
“By 2022, the average household with two teenage children will own roughly 50 such Internet connected devices, according to estimates by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development,” Dhanjani said “Our society is starting to increasingly depend upon IoT devices to promote automation and increase our well being. As such, it is important that we begin a dialogue on how we can securely enable the upcoming technology.”
You can find some useful tips for keeping your cameras safe in the video below:
