Guy Hacks Baby Monitor, Says Awful Things

Parents heard lewd comments, cursing coming from room
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 14, 2013 10:38 AM CDT
Guy Hacks Baby Monitor, Says Awful Things
A baby monitor is shown.   (AP Photo/CPSC)

A Houston couple was disturbed to hear a stranger in their 2-year-old daughter's room Saturday. The man, who had a European-sounding accent, was making lewd comments ("wake up, you little slut") and called both the toddler and the parents names including "effing moron" and "bitch." But he wasn't actually in the room—he had apparently hacked the wireless IP camera that was being used as a baby monitor, which dad Marc Gilbert quickly disconnected. In what he calls "somewhat of a blessing," Gilbert's little girl is deaf, and never woke up throughout the ordeal. "If she had heard it it would have been a big problem."

The hacker appeared to be controlling the IP cam; that apparently allowed him to learn the baby's name (it appears on the wall of her room), which he said aloud, WTVR reports. "I don’t think it ever will be connected again. I think we are going to go without the baby monitor now," her dad tells ABC News, adding that he is publicizing his story so other parents are aware of the danger. Based on ABC's footage, Forbes thinks the Gilberts were using a Foscam wireless camera, which it notes were found to have security vulnerabilities recently. KWCH has some basic security tips for nervous parents. (More hacking stories.)

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