Video baby monitor access (Password protected, or better yet, disabled).Normal internet access to your router (Firewall protected).This comes from the fact that your video baby monitor works by connecting to your home wireless router, which I’m assuming is connected to the internet. Don’t look for them if you value your soul.Īt a very high level, here are the layers that apply to your video baby monitor. Then, your webcam could end up on some shady forum with links to hundreds of insecure webcams all across the globe. When it comes to your IP-enabled baby monitor, having just one stinky layer of insecurity can invite all the hackers. “ Ogres Security measures are like onions.” Internet Protocol Baby Monitor Security IssuesĮvery time I start talking about security with Steve, he starts doing his Shrek impersonation. And we all know that those people can be just absolutely reprehensible.
#ARLO BABY CHANGE WIFI FULL#
Internet-connected baby monitors are potentially vulnerable to the full range of trolls, creeps, and criminals across the globe. If a dumb baby monitor is two tin cans and a string, a smart baby cam is a tin can, and the string is the World Wide Web. The attack vector against these “smart” baby monitors is much broader. These are called internet protocol (IP) cameras because they use the internet and your local area network to communicate with your smartphone. It’s the internet-connected video monitors and baby cameras that are making all the headlines lately. Now, it’s not just older brothers and neighborhood kids pranking you. So, if someone starts hijacking your “dumb” baby monitor, go run out into the yard and find the little punk with the walkie-talkie who’s doing it and tell him you know where he lives, and you’re calling his parents. For example, if I stand in my driveway with the receiver for my baby monitor, I’m too far away for the signal to work. You have to be pretty physically close to the baby monitor for it to work.
But to hijack a dumb baby monitor frequency, you’ll need to be somewhat handy with some gadgets you bought at RadioShack. Right now, every kid over the age of 5 has a device that can use internet protocol (what smart baby monitors use). There are two big limiting factors to the dumb monitor hack, though. That is, hijack the frequency and start playing death metal over it or something. All someone has to do is find the string and then put their can in the middle. The dumb monitors are the radio equivalents of two tin cans on a string. The attack vector for older walkie-talkie/intercom type baby monitors (which I still use) is pretty simple. And then there’re the somewhat newfangled Internet-enabled baby monitors that integrate with your smartphone via your wireless router. There’re simple intercom style baby monitors that are walkie-talkies with a baby bear logo on the box. There are two major kinds of baby monitors out there. How Hackers Access Baby Monitors: Dumb vs. The point of this post isn’t to shock and scare you-it’s to inform and prepare you. They are more clickbait than cautionary tales, and the advice they offer is cursory at best. I have a problem with a lot of the way the media covers these stories. Or better yet, forward them this one instead of the sensational story from your local news channel. So, before you start warning all your friends and kids to stop using baby monitors, read through this post. Once you understand how hackers get into baby monitors and webcams, you can make a more informed decision on whether or not the security risks are worth the convenience. But my position on baby monitors is this: (Seriously, when are they going to put little plastic shutters on these by default?). For instance, I do have a Post-it covering the webcam on my laptop. The risks are real, but they are manageable.ĭon’t get me wrong. I almost did.īut after taking stock of the security measures I’d already put in place, I decided it was OK to keep using my baby monitors. These confirmed instances are chilling enough to make you want to run upstairs and unplug the baby monitor in your kid’s room right now. What’s different about these stories is that the risks they identify are real. Video baby monitor hacking stories get lots of airplay on local news and instantly forwarded to me by my older relatives.
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