Incidents

Smart home hacked; attackers expose a family to high temperatures and really loud music

While they can sometimes help us simplify some everyday tasks, smart home devices can also be used by threat actors for malicious purposes. This is the case of a family in Wisconsin, US, whose members began to be harassed by a group of hackers that compromised the management portal of their Google Nest smart home system, cybersecurity experts report.

After the intrusion, the hackers proceeded to
manipulate the Internet of Things (IoT) devices installed in the home of the
affected family, starting by raising the temperature to 32 degrees Celsius with
their smart thermostat. The owners of the house, Lamont and Samantha
Westmoreland, downplayed the event, thinking that the heating system had simply
broken.

However, the problems continued. As the couple
recounted to cybersecurity experts, after that voices began to be heard from
the Westmoreland’s smart speaker, followed by some loud obscene songs. The
family tried to disconnect the system and change the password of their Google
Nest account, but this didn’t help.

Samantha Westmoreland says this left her very
uneasy: “My heart got twisted, I feel scared just to talk about it,”
the victim says.

According to cybersecurity experts, to do this
the hackers had to access the Westmoreland’s WiFi
network to then access the Google Nest system. Google officials noted that
hackers most likely found the family’s WiFi passwords due to leaks on other
platforms, such as router manufacturers or Internet service providers.

Specialists from the International Institute of
Cyber Security (IICS) mention that the hacking of IoT devices is becoming an
increasingly common practice, partly due to the growth in the use of these
devices, but mainly thanks to the poor information security knowledge among
users of this technology. It is very common for users not to change the default
passwords on these devices, leaving them too exposed to any intruders. Changing
factory passwords on these computers and setting other security measures, such
as multi-factor authentication, can be really useful measures to prevent
unauthorized access to our networks and smart devices.

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