According to the BBC, a video showing a hacker talking to a young girl in her bedroom, accessed via her family’s Ring camera, has been shared on social media. This comes amid warnings people need to secure the devices better.
This follows earlier reports via U.S. network NBC-2 concerning hackers who targeted a Florida family in a similar way, this time shouting racial abuse through the device.
In response, Ring has encouraged all users to enable two-factor authentication on their Ring account.
To look into this issue further, Digital Journal caught up with Will LaSala, Director of Security Solutions, Security Evangelist at OneSpan.
LaSala begins by pointing out that Internet-of-Things (IoT) breaches are on the rise. He notes: “IoT devices are rapidly being created and integrated into our everyday society, but users are often not aware of the security holes they possess. These devices are finding their way into many private and personal spaces; cameras are being installed in bedrooms and just about every room in the house.”
With reference to cameras in general, he states: “Originally, these cameras were used as security devices to detect unwanted visitors, but are now bringing strangers into the house virtually. IoT devices being hacked to turn the temperature up can lead to money loss for the homeowner, while compromised cameras can lead to scary incidents involving predators and potentially even your house being broken into because the hackers can see when you are home or not.”
In terms of current and future security, LaSala says that: “IoT vendors still have a long way to go to protect their devices. Often, they try to make quick fixes, such as by adding SMS authentication to their platforms. This simple protocol has already been hacked in the banking industry, and is actively being hacked wherever else it is being used. Platforms need to start to get serious about the security around their technologies.”
Nevertheless, there is more to be done, as LaSala notes: “There are security vendors that are ready to help IoT platforms reach that next security peak and help reduce the amount of successful hacks. Customers should look to their IoT vendors and ask the difficult questions surrounding how they plan to protect their users and what the timelines are.”
In terms of the future state, LaSala predicts: “I expect that we will continue to see massive breaches over the next year, as well as new security technologies being built directly into the IoT vendors’ platforms and even into third-party home routers and networking equipment to really start to reduce these breaches.”
