In a bone-chilling incident, a couple in the United States were shocked when a hacker entered their attached home and began talking to them via camera, playing obscene music on a video system in the living room and even turning the thermostat to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. (Over 32 C)
According to Fox 6 News, the incident happened with a Milwaukee (Wisconsin) -based couple who felt nothing but safe after hackers took over their smart home.
Samantha and Lamont Westmoreland realized that something was wrong when they started listening to a voice through a camera in the kitchen.
“My heart was pounding. I felt very violated at the time,” Samantha was quoted as saying.
The couple installed a Google Nest system (camera, doorbell and thermostat) in their home in 2018.
On September 17, Samantha came home to find that the thermostat had turned up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
He fixed it but the thermostat kept going up and a voice from a camera in the kitchen started talking to the couple. The hacker then started playing obscene songs from the video system in the living room.
Changing their passwords didn’t help. The couple later talked to their internet service provider and changed their network ID.
Westmoreland has spent $ 700 on the Google Nest system at home.
Google Nest systems typically offer thermostats, cameras, doorbells, alarm systems, locks, and smoke + CO alarms.
“It’s cool to talk about it,” said Samantha
The Milwaukee couple is not alone.
In January, a hacker took the Illinois-based Indian-American couple’s nest camera and began talking to their children.
Arjun Sood told WBBM-TV, “I was shocked to hear a deep, masculine voice. My blood went cold.” The hacker also threw obscenities at Sud and his wife.
Interest disconnects the camera and communicates with Nest, asking him to use two-factor authentication (2FA) for added security.
A California-based family also had a chilling experience when someone used their nest camera speakers to warn of an impending missile attack from North Korea.
A Google spokesman told FOX6 News: “Nest was not violated. These reports are based on customers using compromised passwords (published via other websites in violation). In almost all cases, two-factor verification eliminates such security risks.”
With 75 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices expected by 2025, cyber-security concerns will only increase as more homes connect.