Man hacks baby monitor, screams at infant to wake up
A couple in the US were horrified to discover that somebody had hacked into their baby monitor and was using it to watch and harass their child.
Man hacks baby monitor, screams at infant to wake up
Man yells at child through hacked baby monitor
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A Cincinnati couple says the feel 'violated' after a hacker hijacked the wireless monitor in their infant daughter's room and watched the child sleep.
According to FOX19, Heather and Adam Schreck were woken in the middle of the night to hear a man screaming "wake up baby."
"All of a sudden, I heard what sounded like a man's voice but I was asleep so I wasn't sure," Heather told FOX19.
The couple believe the hacker was attempting to wake their daughter.
Heather checked her cell phone to check the camera in her 10-month-old daughter Emma's room. The camera was moving but Emma wasn't moving it.
"I also heard a voice again start screaming at my daughter. He was screaming 'Wake up baby. Wake up baby.' Then just screaming at my daughter to wake her up," Heather said.
That's when Heather's husband Adam sprung into action and ran into Emma's room.
When he got in there, the camera turned from the terrified baby and faced him.
The man then started screaming and swearing at Adam from the monitor.
They quickly unplugged the camera.
Camera hacks have been common on computer and laptop webcams.
RELATED: How to keep your webcam safe from hackers
Experts say people can protect themselves by changing the Wi-Fi password and camera.
People should also regularly check manufacturer websites for device updates.
Since the incident, the Schrecks have upgraded the software on their baby monitor and have changed the passwords.
'Wake up baby!' The chilling words U.S. couple heard in the middle of the night from a man who had hacked their daughter's baby monitor and was WATCHING her sleep
FOX19 Investigates: Hacker hijacks baby monitor
CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) -
Heather Schreck was asleep around midnight in her Hebron home when a voice startled her.
"All of a sudden, I heard what sounded like a man's voice but I was asleep so I wasn't sure," Heather said.
Disoriented and confused, Heather picked up her cell phone to check the camera in her 10-month-old daughter Emma's room. The camera was moving, but she wasn't moving it.
"About the time I saw it moving, I also heard a voice again start screaming at my daughter. He was screaming, 'Wake up baby. Wake up baby.' Then just screaming at her trying to wake her up."
That's when Heather's husband, Adam, ran into Emma's room. Adam said the camera then turned from his petrified daughter to point directly at him.
"Then it screamed at me," Adam said. "Some bad things, some obscenities. So I unplugged the camera."
But the Schrecks were only beginning to plug into the truth of what had just happened.
"Someone had hacked in from outside," Heather said.
So how many other times had someone hacked into their camera and watched their baby through their Foscam IP Camera.
"You do kind of feel violated in a way," Adam said.
According to tech experts, wireless IP cameras like the one the Shrieks have are an easy way for hackers to open a cyber door directly into your home.
"Any kind of Internet-connected device essentially could be subjected to this," said Dave Hatter, a solutions expert for Infinity Partners.
And experts say once they get inside the camera in your home, hackers may also be able to get inside your lives.
"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 your ID or use your network to launch malicious attacks against someone else," Hatter said.
Hatter's advice is to change the password on your Wi-Fi as well as the camera itself, and make them different. Also, check the manufacturer's website regularly for updates you can download since the available updates may not show up directly on the device, as they do on your computer or cell phone. The Foscam camera, for example, has a known firmware vulnerability and had released an update to correct the problem but the Schreck's were unaware of it.
These are some of the simple security steps the Schreck family will now be taking after an intruder walked into their home through their security camera.
"I was just absolutely shocked to see somebody could get into my house so easily," said Heather.