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A scary baby monitor hacker caused an Ohio family to awaken in horror and run to the nursery to protect their bundle of joy.
Adam and Heather Schreck and their 10-month-old daughter were sound asleep one night in April until they heard a man’s voice screaming, “Wake up baby! Wake up baby,” through the nursery 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 News. When the startled Cincinnati mom picked up her cell phone to check the Internet-ready baby monitor camera, she saw the camera angle was moving on its own and she heard the screaming male voice again.
When Adam Schreck ran into his infant daughter’s room, the baby monitor camera turned and pointed toward his face and the man’s voice started to scream obscenities. The parents rushed to unplug the camera and thwart the unnerving invasion of privacy.
The Ohio couple obviously felt quite violated by the baby monitor hacking, and the parents still are not sure if this was the first time that a stranger had watched their daughter sleeping and garnered control of their Internet. Heather recalled feeling “absolutely shocked that somebody could get into my house so easily.”
Computer experts have warned that Internet-connected cameras can be utilized by cyber hackers to get access into home networks. Once virtually inside the home, a skilled hacker can reportedly spy on the family and potentially even gather personal information to steal identifications.
Everything You Need To Know To Keep Your Home And Family Safe.
Tech gurus note that the Ohio baby monitor hacking is not the first such incident — and no doubt won’t be the last. To help protect privacy when using wireless IP cameras, parents are advised to use firewalls, register their devices, and use different passwords for their monitor and wireless network.
Last fall a Texas family also had the wireless baby monitor placed inside their 2-year-old daughter’s room hacked, as previously reported by Off The Grid News. Dad Marc Gilbert awoke and heard, ‘Wake up Allyson, you little s**t.” The hacker had seen the little girl’s name emblazoned on her wall in an above-bed decoration.
“As a father, I’m supposed to protect her against people like this. It felt like somebody broke into our house. So it’s a little embarrassing to say the least, but it’s not going to happen again,” Gilbert said.
Little Allyson is deaf and her cochlear implants were not turned on, so at least the toddler did not hear the voice.
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Cincinnati News, FOX19-WXIX TV
Said Infinity Partners solutions expert Dave Hatter:
It’s not just that they want to get in and mess with your camera. More sophisticated hackers know they can use this as a launching-off point to get into your network and potentially steal you ID and use your network to launch malicious attacks against someone else.
Hatter also urged parents to check the wireless baby monitor manufacturer’s website regularly for downloadable updates to enhance security and fix glitches. According to the tech expert, the Foscam camera had a known vulnerability with a solution, but Adam and Heather Schreck were unaware of either the problem or the fix.
Wireless cameras are often used by parents so they can monitor their child and the babysitter while away from home. Similar cameras that are linked to the Internet are also used as part of a home surveillance systems.
Would you use a wireless camera to monitor your baby or your home? Let us know in the comments section below.
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