Hackers Use Ring Cameras To Look, Listen Inside Homes And Even Talk To Children
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The video is chilling – a little girl is in her room and someone is watching her, talking to her, and giving her commands.
It is happening more and more. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot has found hackers are using popular Ring cameras to look and listen inside your home.
"I'm your best friend. I'm Santa Claus," the hacker says to the little girl through the Ring camera. "You can do anything you want right now."
The apparent hacker tried to get the girl to wreck her room, and repeat a racial slur.
This was not an isolated incident. There have been similar cases happening across the country.
Ring, which is owned by Amazon, claims its network was not infiltrated. Hackers apparently obtained passwords through outside sources, allowing them access to cameras.
The company said, "Unfortunately, when the same username and password is reused on multiple services, it's possible for bad actors to gain access to many accounts."
Ring said customers need to use unique, strong passwords and should also set up two-tier authentication.
In the Ring app, you can go to "account settings" and hit the two-factor authentication button. From that point on, when you log onto the app or website, the company will send a text to verify it's you.
Tammy, who did not want to share her last name, heard a voice coming from her Ring camera and calmly turned it to the wall.
"I knew he was tapping into this camera. I knew he was tapping into my bedroom camera," she said. "So it became a little bit overwhelming for a few minutes."
A few steps can make cameras inside home more secure, and prevent such scary moments.
In the past, hackers have been able to get access to baby monitors and even children's toys connected to the internet.
In those cases, people had re-used, old passwords – or never changed the default password. Experts stress, two factor authentication should be used for all important sites and devices.
