Avery Hartmans
- Eerie video footage of hackers gaining access to an Amazon Ring camera and harassing an 8-year-old went viral last week.
- Amazon said in response that it would implement more security features for Ring cameras, but also argued that the incident was preventable.
- Cybersecurity experts told Business Insider there are simple steps anyone can take to protect against such hacks.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Grainy security footage shows an 8-year-old girl in her bedroom when an unfamiliar voice begins addressing her over the speaker. The stranger talks her, taunting her and claiming to be Santa Claus, before the voice cuts off.
The chilling episode is just the latest in a series of hacks that have targeted Ring cameras, Amazon's internet-enabled home security cameras.
Another woman said last week that she heard a hacker's voice over her Ring camera telling her dog to "wake the f- up." There's even a podcast dedicated to hacking Ring cameras live on air.
While the hacks are unsettling, they're largely preventable. In response to the hacked bedroom footage, Amazon said it would bulk up its Ring security, but added that the hacker got the family's username and password from "a separate, external, non-Ring service."
Cybersecurity experts told Business Insider there are straightforward steps Ring owners can take to secure their devices from similar attacks.
"I personally use Ring for my own home ... These intrusions aren't due to vulnerabilities in the firmware but how the devices have been set up," said Gavin Millard, vice president of intelligence for cybersecurity firm Tenable.
Here are the steps you can take to protect your Ring camera from similar hacks.
Each time I've watched this video it's given me chills.
A Desoto County mother shared this Ring video with me. Four days after the camera was installed in her daughters' room she says someone hacked the camera & began talking to her 8-year-old daughter.
More at 6 on #WMC5 pic.twitter.com/77xCekCnB0
- Jessica Holley (@Jessica_Holley) December 10, 2019