Hackers Can Use Home Devices With Cameras To Invade Privacy
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – From WiFi coffee makers to security cameras and high-tech door locks and lights, the intelligent home is here.
But are they secure?
Those devices can also be a way for a hacker to enter your home.
It seems like everything is now connected to the internet. Baby monitoring cameras or even refrigerators with cameras built right into the door.
Toys are also tied to the web.
They all have processors that transmit and receive data.
It's part of an exploding category of connected devices called the "internet of things."
"We're gonna have something like twenty billion of these devices online by 2020," said Tod Beadsley.
Beadsley is a tech security researcher with Rapid-7. He says gadgets that send out information on the internet can also let hackers into your home.
Last April a New York City couple was horrified to hear a man talking to their three-year old through a web-connected baby monitor.
Hackers can also invade your privacy just for fun, which can be seen on a website that features hijacked camera feeds from homes around the world.
The biggest entry way into someone's home is their router, so changing the default password is a must.
"You don't have to be a particularly sophisticated attacker to guess 'password' is the password," said Beadsley.
Once one device, like a router, is compromised, hackers can learn a lot about the owner of that device.
"First name, last name, zip code, date of birth…I have a pretty good date set that I can either use directly for crime, or I can sell it," explained Beadsley.
He says create unique passwords for all devices and change them often.
Internet security experts also suggest checking for software updates for all connected gadgers.
They also recommend reducing your attack surface by turning off devices when they're not actively in use and resetting them to their original factory settings at least once a year.
But remember to update them again, right after.
