A Texas woman said her "worst nightmare" was realized recently when she learned someone hacked into a webcam in her daughter's bedroom and had been streaming it online for strangers to see.
So how can you protect your children from hackers without having to do away with surveillance cameras?
Arun Vishwanath, University at Buffalo associate professor, says there are a few tips you and your family can take to prevent hackings:
- Registering your device so you will get updates,
- Set up a unique username and password and don't use a password that you use on other accounts,
- Make sure to turn the camera away when it's not in use, and
- Download a free app to monitor your wifi account.
“Very often the default login would be admin and the password would be 123456. any hack and every hacker knows that,” Vishwanath said.
Western New York parents are making online security a priority for their family’s safety.
“It definitely concerns me, however, in today's day in age, it’s kind of the chance you take when you use these devices,” Cassandra Irwin, mother of two teenagers, said.
Thresea Pikens has a 10-month old baby and says she made sure to buy a more traditional camera monitor for this very reason.
“We made sure not to get anything that was wireless or blue tooth capable,” Pikens said.
“It is frightening and there is a lot of unknown,” Christopher Bridge, father of two, said.
