Can Baby Monitors Be Hacked

Are you panic that your baby monitor could be vulnerable to hacking? Or are you trying to find out the truth about baby monitors being hacked?

If this is you, then you’re in the right place. In this article, we have all of your questions and concerns about baby monitor hacking menace covered.

First off, you need to know that all common household appliances (your baby monitor included) are prone to hacking. Although this isn’t meant to scare you off but to get you ready for the battle.

In case you are ever told baby monitors can’t be hacked, here is the latest study by the New York Post to debunk all of that.

Now that you know you this is possible, you’ll want to do everything possible to avert that. The good news is you can easily do that if you’d follow some simple tips that we shall talk about later in this article.

Enough of this bluff lets dive into the main business right away.

Ready to go? Here we go…

Note: If you’d need a help with choosing the best monitor for your child, kindly see our Baby Monitor Reviews here now.

How Can Your Monitor Be Hacked?

There are several ways by which common household appliances like your baby monitor can be hacked. One of such ways is through a simple Google search. Using this method most home gadgets such as your home security cameras, baby monitors, and thermostats – to mention just a few – can easily be accessed by the cybersecurity researchers. You can check out this post for further details.

Why Some Baby Monitors Are Vulnerable to Hacking?

It’s understandable why some baby monitors could be vulnerable to hacking. The reasons are not far-fetched and could be linked to the different things connected to them and most importantly, most monitors are not designed with security issues in mind. Until recently, many manufacturers probably didn’t really see reasons to put these measures in place as they didn’t believe anyone would want to hack them. Today, that has all changed and hacking is real. Latest technology now provides for measures to secure the device.

Which Baby Monitors Are Safe From Hacking

There is virtually nothing like “A” is good and “B” is bad here. While there is no 100% security guarantee for your monitors (if you don’t follow necessary security tips, as laid down in the later section), you can get more security features with some monitor brands. This is so as some monitors are designed with security in mind that others.

The simple way to go here is to buy only a baby monitor with great security. Overall, watch out for the features in the monitor before buying. And give priority to the safety and security of yourself, house and baby. Because that’s the reason you thought you needed a baby monitor, in the first place.

Why You Should Secure Your Baby Monitor?

Needless to say, you’d agree with me that it’s dangerous and threatening to leave your monitor unsecured. Think of people like criminals, pedophiles, voyeurs and the rest who may be accessing your camera unknowingly. You’ll not only be exposed the security of your baby and that of your self would also be easily compromised.

So, to avoid this, it’s important that you always take all the security tips discussed in the later section seriously.

Tips to Protect Your Baby Monitor From Hacking

Regular Check On The Firmware Update

One of the security measures to take to prevent your baby monitor from hacking is to engage in a regular update of the firmware. It’s possible that the manufacturer might have done this for you, but it’s advisable that you always visit their website for updated firmware. This is to ensure that your monitor has the current version of the firmware. By firmware, this means the software built into the camera’s hardware to run it. The manufacturers do update this regularly to improve the software and to fix any security issues or flaw that might be noticed in it. So always keep yours open for this kind of development and other additional security features that may be added in future.

Use Security Measures

One of the good things about the latest monitors is the availability of security measures. In that, manufacturers have done great by improving the components of modern baby monitors, which make them safe and more secure for your use.

Hence, you should endeavor to use the following security measures:

• Personalized password and ID.
• Wireless encryption

Avoid The Use of Weak Password

Using a weak password for your camera log-in can make it easy for the hacker to break and get access into your monitor. A strong password should be a blend of letters, signs, and numbers.

Apart from the weak password, another thing that is also common is to forget to change the default password used by the manufacturer or even choose to stick to it. This is something you shouldn’t do. As soon as you install your camera, you should change the default password and use a strong password that you can easily remember.

Use SSL Certificates

Most experts believe that the use of ”Secure Sockets Layer” (SSL) for baby monitors will help secure the data being transmitted by them (the monitors). For this to really work for you, you’ll also need to check to be sure your monitor does have and that it’s not using an expired certificate. This is another key area to watch out for.

With the SSL, all the digital activities (including secure connection) are locked up from unauthorized observers.

Always Guide Your Password

This sounds simple, right? But it can be as serious as having a weak password. It doesn’t matter how strong your password or how secure your camera is if you don’t mind how you share things it can easily compromise your monitor’s security.

Additionally, don’t forget to always put off the device when not in use.

Wrapping Up

Now that most (if not all) of your questions and concerns about monitor vulnerability to hacking are settled. What will you do? I think the right thing to do now is not to get panic but to go straight there and fix all the lapses. And, in trying to do that, the first thing to do is to keep all the security tips mentioned here handy and tick against everyone you are doing already and start implementing those you’ve not yet taken into effect.

And above, be mindful of the monitor brands you buy and always check to make sure things like the SSL certificate, firmware update, wireless encryption, and others are fully taken into consideration when buying a baby monitor.

 

Will you like to find out what our opinion is on what’s the best monitor to buy? See our Baby Monitor Reviews here now.