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Jewish World Review August 15, 2013/ 9 Elul, 5773 The voice in the nursery By Dave Ross
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
A young couple in Houston claims that the camera system they were using to monitor their two toddlers was hacked.
Mark Gilbert told a local TV station that he was washing dishes over the weekend when he heard a voice coming from the his baby monitor.
As he and his wife got closer to the camera, what it was saying got worse. "'He said, wake up Allison, you little (expletive,)'" described Gilbert.
Gilbert knew it was coming from the camera.
I talked to former computer hacker turned security expert Kevin Mitnik about this case.
"There is a known security vulnerability in a particular device that was compromised. The manufacturer says it's now been fixed."
But Mitnik still advises you to think twice before enabling the internet access feature of any baby monitor.
"A lot of the manufacturers that create these devices don't think about security concerns until somebody finds it," said Mitnik.
Even worse are baby monitors that work by actually broadcasting a low-power TV signal. ABC's Good Morning America found out those signals could be picked up just by driving through the neighborhood.
"We were shocked. The images were coming into our news vehicle crystal clear," said the ABC reporter.
You were shocked --- imagine the mothers!
In the case of the Gilberts in Houston, their little girl never heard a thing -- she was born deaf and uses an ear implant to hear -- which was turned off at the time. As is that baby monitor now, by the way.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Comment by clicking here. Dave Ross hosts the Morning News on Seattle's KIRO Radio weekdays from 5-9 a.m. He spends his down time tinkering with electronic projects, writing novelty songs, shopping at thrift stores, and playing squash. As an avid hiker, he's earned the title Energizer Bunny from his friends; while they all stop to see stuff along the trail, Dave keeps going and going and going. He enjoys traveling internationally for work and pleasure with memorable stops in Baghdad, Qatar, Israel, Prague, Germany (to cover the Berlin Wall), China, Soviet Union, Niger, Senegal, and Iran. You can listen to his daily column in audio format by clicking here.
© 2013, Dave Ross |
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