SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah social media influencer and blogger is warning other parents to check their home WiFi security after she caught a stranger making creepy voices at her child through his baby monitor. It occurred after a WiFi hack to the baby monitor.

WiFi hack

Isabelle Baker runs the account Ihonestlyloved on Instagram. In some now expired Insta-stories she outlined how her 3-year-old-son August’s baby monitor was hacked.

She said that her 3-year-old started acting out, having night terrors, and became terrified of being alone. She thought it might be the scary movies, like Monsters, Inc. he likes to watch. Or perhaps an imaginary friend. Then one day she heard a voice coming from his room, she thought it was a construction contractor who had been at her house frequently doing work on her basement.

“[It was] a man talking to August in a distorted voice with like a voice changer – like an alien-y, really deep voice – I cannot make out what he’s saying,” Baker said. “In my gut I knew what is was.”

Tips for other parents

Baker says her baby monitor was from Wyze, who she said contacted her about the hack. She shared their tips for protecting baby monitors connected to WiFi.

“Change your password, change it often. Turn on two factor authentication. Update your firmware,” were among the tips she shared. 

A Utah online safety expert tells KSL Newsradio that WiFi baby monitor hacks are scary, but aren’t common.

“It’s an outlier event..but these are scary things,” said Rebecca Edwards Lead Safety and Security writer for SafeWise.com. It’s reaching into our home, it’s reaching into our children which are our most precious things.

Baker also shared comments from several other moms saying similar hacks had happened to them.

Unfortunately, Edwards said anything connected to WiFi is at risk for a hack.

“An attacker is able to get through to your baby monitor camera by first getting access through your router to your WiFi network,” She said. “So they’re usually not going to be able to target this [type of] camera specifically, however, if that camera has less security protocols built in, it can be a more vulnerable device on your network.”

And anything connected to WiFi is at risk for a hack.

“WiFi cameras, WiFi equipment, things that are working on WiFi, are vulnerable to being hacked, period,” said Edwards.

The SafeWise website offers several tips for protecting your WiFi connected baby monitor.

• Use a strong password for the monitoring device.

• Change passwords frequently.

• Be sure your Wi-Fi password is strong as well.

• Using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can give you an additional layer of protection.

If you don’t have a reason to access the video monitor from outside your home, we recommend playing it safe and sticking with a camera without a Wi-Fi connection.

 

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