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As far as keeping home security cameras protected against hackers, Craig Shue — an associate professor in computer science — toldTIMEthat he recommends regularly changing passwords (as well as ensuring passwords are unique across a user’s various devices and accounts) and activating two-factor authentication.
“I would also encourage everybody to do their own form of risk assessment and determine what they need in these devices and whether it’s worth the risk to have that functionality,” Shue added. “It’s kind of crazy that we use passwords as a line of defense for a sensitive device.”
For general web safety,Consumer Reportsurges individuals to update router firmware, turn off router features you aren’t using (this will allow fewer ways in) and ensuring WPA3 or WPA2 encryption are turned on.
“Don’t use WEP, an outdated security protocol,” saysNBC News. “Consumer Reports found that some new models still make WEP encryption an option. If your current router only has WEP or WPA encryption, get rid of it.”
RELATED VIDEO: Victoria Justice Talks About Her Recent Hacking Incident
“At first she was trying to figure out where the noise is coming from,” LeMayexplained to PEOPLE of the scary incident. “It’s a man’s voice. At first she thought it was her dad; you can see her walk out the door and say, ‘I can’t hear you,' speaking to her father.”
According to thePost, the full video shows the male voice repeatedly using a racial slur and telling Alyssa to misbehave. LeMay told PEOPLE that the voice also tried to convince her he wasSanta Claus. LeMay said her husband heard their daughter yell, “Mommy, Mommy!” as the voice continued to talk to her, and he went into the room and discerned that their camera may have been hacked.
“I really thought he was just kidding because that’s my worst nightmare,” LeMay added. “I watched part of the video because I’m like, ‘Surely he’s just messing with me' — and then I heard the voice and that was all I needed to hear.”
In a statement to PEOPLE, a Ring spokesperson said, “Customer trust is important to us and we take the security of our devices seriously. Our security team has investigated this incident and we have no evidence of an unauthorized intrusion or compromise of Ring’s systems or network.”
“Recently, we were made aware of an incident where malicious actorsobtained some Ring users' account credentials(e.g., username and password) from a separate, external, non-Ring service and reused them to log in to some Ring accounts,” the statement continued. “Unfortunately, when the same username and password is reused on multiple services, it’s possible for bad actors to gain access to many accounts.”
The statement concluded, “Upon learning of the incident, we took appropriate actions to promptly block bad actors from known affected Ring accounts and affected users have been contacted. Consumers should always practice good password hygiene and we encourage Ring customers to change their passwords and enable two-factor authentication.”
Ring also posted a similar messagein a blog poston Thursday.
source: people.com
