A SECURITY pro has warned that a gadget commonly used in family homes could make a household prone to cyber-attack.
When people bring a new baby home, it’s normal for a family to buy a baby monitor to easily keep an eye on the infant when they’re in a different room but the device could welcome spies into your house.
There are different types of monitors parents may consider investing in like audio-only kinds or ones with video, some even connect to wifi while others may be simpler – they all come with different risks.
Experts recommend families look into changing five main settings on their households’ baby monitor system(s), cyber protection company Malwarebytes shared.
1. CHANGE PASSWORD
If you have a cheaper device, it may have come with a password that cannot ever be changed which means those passwords are almost definitely available online for any hacker to see.
It’s important to purchase devices for your home that allow you to change the passwords for maximum security, even if it costs a little more to ensure safety.
When you do get a new baby monitor, make sure it’s one that lets you change its password and change the code as soon as you set up your monitor.
2. STRONG PASSWORD
Changing the password to a phrase or word that others wouldn’t know or be able to guess is crucial to keeping your house secure when bringing a baby monitor home.
A weak password could let someone access your baby monitor which would allow them to view live footage of your child, videos or even speak over the monitor, according to Malwarebytes.
3. MULTIFACTOR AUTHENTICATION
When you know you have a monitor that allows you to change its password, also check to make sure it’s a device that allows you to use multi-factor, or two-factor, authentication.
With this setting enabled, strangers won’t be able to get into your account even if a sly spy manages to guess your password.
4. VIDEO SAFETY
When you have a baby monitor that has wifi connection, it’d be safe not to keep footage it captures of your children in a cloud.
If there are specific reasons you may want to keep recordings from your child’s room stored somewhere, experts with Malwarebytes recommend going for a product that allows local saving.
The security pros noted that it’s “simply not worth the risk of footage making its way into the cloud, and other people’s hands.”
5. TURN IT OFF
It may seem like a tedious task but consider powering the monitor down when you’re not using it, especially if it has a camera.
The window of opportunity for breaking into the device is made even smaller if nobody can access it, so when your baby is elsewhere just try to make sure the device is turned off completely.
