Welcome to Gaia! ::


Quotable Informer

20,825 Points
  • Elysium's Gatekeeper 100
  • Partygoer 500
  • Frozen Sleuth 100
The nanny to a one-year-old girl was going about her business Monday — changing diapers, playing with the baby – when she heard an unfamiliar voice come out of the family baby monitor. “That’s a really poopy diaper,” it said, apparently watching Ashley Stanley, the nanny, and little Samantha.

“I thought it was [Samantha’s] mom and dad playing a joke on me,” Stanley told Houston news station KHOU 11. “I was kind of really freaked out like maybe someone hacked into the camera. He said something else like ‘you should probably password protect your camera,’” she explains.

Samantha’s parents were not pranking her, and the voice that came through the Foscam baby monitor was real. The monitor, which has wifi access for parents to check in on their kids from an iPhone or iPad or other devices, also had two-way audio.

Cameras with these capabilities are exceedingly easy for interested parties to hack, says Bryan Lagarde, security camera expert and director of ProjectNola, the largest crime camera system in the country. “It doesn’t even take much know-how, and there are entire websites dedicated to posting video and audio from open cameras,” Lagarde tells Yahoo Parenting.

But there are precautions that parents can take to protect themselves against hackers. Most important is to create an indivualized password for the camera’s monitoring system. “If you are using a default password, you might as well not being using a password at all,” Lagarde says. “It’s like leaving your car door unlocked — there’s nothing stopping someone else from opening the door and getting in.” Once you’ve personalized your password, it’s much more difficult for someone to hack in, Lagarde says.

Parents should also be sure they have the most up-to-date firmware for their monitors. “Think of firmware as software — it’s a set of instructions that make a device operate, and it’s regularly updated,” Lagarde explains. “If you have a company that makes baby monitors and they get complaints about security hacks, they will make fixes. But you need to have the latest version to have the most updated protection.” Lagarde says parents should check that their firmware is updated even when they first buy the monitor, since it could have been sitting on a shelf for a year before it was purchased.

Once you’ve confirmed your firmware and password, consider where you plan to keep the monitor, Lagarde says. “Whenever you have something like that in your house, it can be hacked, so use common sense,” he says. “If your baby sleeps in your room and you always leave the camera on, hackers can see or hear everything going on in your room. When the camera isn’t in use, unplug it to help ensure your own privacy. Otherwise, you get frisky, and suddenly you’re on YouTube.”

While these precautions should be used with all monitors, those that are wifi-enabled are especially vulnerable to hack. “If you can only see the video from the receiving monitor in your house, someone can usually only hack in if they are a couple of hundred feet from that monitor, like an immediate neighbor,” Lagarde says. “But if you have a wifi monitor, you can be on the other side of the world and hack in over the Internet.”
Lagarde says that when used correctly, baby monitors can be great tools. “Speaking as a parent, I know they can be a wonderful help, especially with that first child,” he says. “You just have to be careful with it, realize its limitations, and don’t let it work against you.”

As for Stanley and her uninvited guest, she told KHOU that she immediately unplugged the camera, but now she can’t help thinking who else might be looking in. “What pervert has been watching and not said anything? That is the kind of person that I am afraid of,” she said. “Like who has been watching silently.”

OMG

kuroreo's Waifu

Peaceful Light

27,575 Points
  • Tenacious Spirit 250
  • Perfect Attendance 400
  • Ultimate Player 200
That would creep me out for sure.

Distinct Member

The fact he mentioned about changing a password makes me think he was bored.

Invisible Exhibitionist

This just totally skeeved me out.

Kawaii Shoujo

Thank the stars that the nanny informed her employers of what was going on... there's quite the possibility that the hacker is a pervert.

JamesWN's Wife

Colorful Hourglass

Sheesh,what is it with these weirdos and hacking nanny cams? :/

Lonely Wolf

Why are people hooking things up to WiFi that don't need to be hooked to WiFi? If the parents want to check on their child, just call the nanny on her phone, or Skype her on her phone using the Skype app.

Wintry Dragon

There was a time I got suspicious of that camera on my lap top. Though I never used it, I used to feel someone can and stare at me while I worked.

Yuki_Windira's Husband

Invisible Hunter

13,800 Points
  • Perfect Attendance 400
  • Marathon 300
  • Forum Sophomore 300
A mali
There was a time I got suspicious of that camera on my lap top. Though I never used it, I used to feel someone can and stare at me while I worked.


Tape?

Wintry Dragon

JamesWN
A mali
There was a time I got suspicious of that camera on my lap top. Though I never used it, I used to feel someone can and stare at me while I worked.


Tape?
I did. lol It's an evil pervvy eye.

13,000 Points
  • Forum Sophomore 300
  • Signature Look 250
  • Money Never Sleeps 200
Zheng Jiaying
Why are people hooking things up to WiFi that don't need to be hooked to WiFi? If the parents want to check on their child, just call the nanny on her phone, or Skype her on her phone using the Skype app.

Oh, the videos you haven't seen. Let me show you.




The beauty of that last one? The father saw the bruises, watched the video, and according to most sources, he beat her within an inch of her life. One said he put her in a wheelchair.

Dedicated Firestarter

23,975 Points
  • Blazing Power of Friendship Wave 200
  • Comrades in Arms 150
  • Firestarter 200
A mali
JamesWN
A mali
There was a time I got suspicious of that camera on my lap top. Though I never used it, I used to feel someone can and stare at me while I worked.


Tape?
I did. lol It's an evil pervvy eye.


I noticed my camera coming on at random times, I just clicked it closed. Fun thing is that the software for it just completely vanishes making it impossible to access the camera. So now it just sits there. There should be a light that comes on if it is on.... Usually. ((there is a way to hack it on without the light wink )) But tape works. I tapped mine up until the software vanished again.

Distinct Member

Alexander J Luthor
Zheng Jiaying
Why are people hooking things up to WiFi that don't need to be hooked to WiFi? If the parents want to check on their child, just call the nanny on her phone, or Skype her on her phone using the Skype app.

Oh, the videos you haven't seen. Let me show you.




The beauty of that last one? The father saw the bruises, watched the video, and according to most sources, he beat her within an inch of her life. One said he put her in a wheelchair.

I saw the video not too long ago.
I cried.
then held onto my babies.
It's stuff like that, that makes me stay as an at home mom. Right now we are lucky to have my mother in law to watch the kiddos on occasion if we need a date night, but I cannot trust a stranger.

lastborntripletmack's Significant Otter

Popular Seeker

37,665 Points
  • Lavishing Romantic 250
  • Doting Romantic 100
  • Simple Romantic 50
A mali
There was a time I got suspicious of that camera on my lap top. Though I never used it, I used to feel someone can and stare at me while I worked.
Staring at you right now. eek

Greasemonkey

40,725 Points
  • Knife Club Lifetime Membership 0
  • Waffles! 25
  • Gaian 50
Eh, that's incredibly unsurprising. Security in these "internet of things" devices is often an afterthought, if it was ever a thought at all. And that they're suggesting you can just install a firmware update after the fact is laughable, because the manufacturers don't care about security. Even if they released updates to fix it, it would be impossible for normal users to figure out how to install it anyway.

The amount of s**t in peoples houses that's being hacked into now is pretty incredible though: nanny cams, fire alarms, light bulbs, power meters, refrigerators, security cams, smart televisions, thermostats, toasters, washing machines, your goddamn car.

Quick Reply

Submit
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get GCash
Offers
Get Items
More Items
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff
Gaia's Games
Mini-Games
Play with GCash
Play with Platinum