It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. A complete stranger gains access to their baby’s bedroom and takes pictures of the young child without their knowledge, then posts them online for anyone to see. For one couple this wasn’t a bad dream, it was reality. Now they’re telling their story to bring attention to how this all happened, so people are aware and that hopefully it never happens again.
About a year ago the couple, Sara and Jay, were living in Washington with their 3-year-old son. The disturbing incident came to light one day when the child told them that he was scared to sleep alone at night and that someone was talking to him on the phone.
At first they were unsure what he actually meant, but soon afterwards they heard voices coming through the baby monitor that was located in his bedroom. Jay heard a man’s voice saying something along the lines of “wake up little boy, daddy’s looking for you” and after that, when Sara entered the child’s room, the man could be heard talking about how someone was coming. That’s when the realization set in that some sicko had hacked into their baby monitor and was using it to speak to their son and spy on them.
The hackers had also gained control of the night vision camera lens and were able to move it around and see everything in the room. Freaked out by the whole thing, the couple contacted the baby monitor maker, Foscam, and notified the company of the strange situation.
Foscam told the worried parents that it was possible a hacker could gain access to the system. Once in, the hacker could easily control the camera from their own computer or even with just a smart phone app. As if all of this wasn’t frustrating and scary enough, the company also said that there was no way to track down and figure out who the hacker was or where he lived.
Needless to say, the parents threw the compromised baby monitor in the trash and are now using their story to warn others about the potential for incidents like this. Crimes involving internet connected devices are on the rise as more and more people own and use them regularly. Baby monitors may be at particular risk as many of them now use WiFi and come with smartphone apps and features.
Besides invasion of privacy, experts warn this can lead to identity theft and other crimes. It’s highly recommend that people regularly change their WiFi and any camera network passwords they may have frequently. It’s the least you can do to protect your family and yourself from criminals.
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