Internet of Things (IoT) devices or call them the Internet of Shit devices.
Rilana Hamer from Netherland bought a security camera from a local store Action so she could keep an eye on her dog while she was away. She got hold of an inexpensive camera that looked good enough to fulfill her needs but little did she know the nightmare Internet of Things (IoT) devices can become.
It turned out that a stranger had compromised her security camera and not only tracked her movement but also started talking to her. At first, she ignored the noises and took it as frequency issue, however, in the end, realized a total stranger was watching her.
It all started a couple of months after she bought the cam when she witnessed it moving around and making noises and speaking to her in the French language. “The camera went back and forth,” wrote Hamer. “All of a sudden, I hear a rumble. I’m going crazy?! No.. I walked there, the camera turned my way, and I heard, ‘bonjour madame.’ I moved to the left and right, and the camera came with me.”
Hamer recorded the heated conversation between her and the hacker and uploaded its video on her Facebook.
“Hacker: Hello, Do you speak French? Hamer: Sorry? Hacker: Do you speak French? Hamer: No, Englisch! Hamer: What did you do? Hacker: It’d good? Hamer: No! Get the fuck out of my house, now! Shut the fuck off! Hacker: (Geen Idee?) Hamer: Shut the fuck off my house, go away! Hola Senorita! Hamer: ja, fuck you! Hacker: ohhhhhhh suck my dick!”
“My privacy, my house, my personal stuff and myself… I’m scared.. terrified,” wrote Hamer. “I’m being watched, but for how long? What did that person see from me?”
At the time of publishing this article, Dutch media reported that Action has taken the camera back and reported the incident to the manufacturer. However, hacking of a security camera is not so shocking, especially as it was a few years ago, thanks to the vulnerable state of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Just a couple of weeks ago, researchers reported that night vision enabled security cameras can be compromised and used for secretly transferring user data. In 2015, a similar incident took place when in another similar incident, a woman from Toronto Canada was sent intimate pictures of herself with her boyfriend watching Netflix. It was possible since an attacker hacked her laptop camera without turning off its light.
If you own a security camera; make sure to change its default credentials, and in case there is suspicious activity on your devices report it to the seller.
