Smart doorbells are now letting people observe their front doors from the comfort of their devices. One Welsh family has been subject to a scare as a hacker gained access to their security system account. Paul Davies claimed he was alerted to the hack as he received an email notifying him of the unusual behaviour.
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The scary part comes after as Davies told Wales Online about the encounter:
"About 20 minutes later I said I could hear voices. My wife, Lianne, said it was probably my son's toy coming through the baby monitor, but they were coming from outside. I had a look and there was nobody out there."
From there the family received a phone call from a man asking them to come out and give him their car keys or he would steal the car. Understandably Davies was cautious to check outside out of fear for his families safety.
"I didn't want to go out and leave the house unlocked with the three children in the house and my wife."
The hacker then called and asked Davies 'can I look at your kids?'
Davies claims that he wasn't sure that there really was someone outside but the risk was not worth it. The family is now warning people about their home security systems urging them to keep a close eye on their technology.
Ring, the company behind the Smart Doorbell had a spokesperson issued a statement saying that they have been reaching out to all the customers and assuring them that the issue is being looked into, recommending that customers activate two-factor authentication for extra protection:
"We’ve notified customers whose accounts we have identified as exposed and have reset their passwords. In addition, we are continuing to monitor for and block potentially unauthorised login attempts into Ring accounts.
The issue serves to prove that cybersecurity is an ongoing developing matter and it is important to stay cautious with when embracing new technologies.
