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According to this article
A couple living in a California town near San Francisco told local media they experienced "sheer terror" over the weekend when a Nest security camera atop their family's television issued a realistic-sounding warning of missiles heading to the United States from North Korea.
Other instances of hacked Nest devices with various results have occurred recently.
Nest, which is owned by Google-parent Alphabet, told AFP that incidents of commandeered camera control in recent months were the result of hackers using passwords stolen from other online venues.
If you haven't done so recently (regardless of whether you own a Nest device) it is worthwhile to check for known compromises of your account(s). You need do nothing wrong to have your credentials exposed other than signing up on one of the thousands of internet sites that have been compromised over the years.
People can check online at sites such as http://www.haveibeenpwned.com to see whether their email addresses have been found in troves of stolen data.
Having your credentials exposed is the norm these days, and rare indeed is someone without at least one or two breaches that include their information. This is why avoiding password re-use is critical in today's online world - so that when your Blizzard account is pwned, it doesn't expose your Paypal, banking, or worse, SoylentNews account.
It is a pain, but keep those passwords different somehow. Password managers such as Keepass are useful for this.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hopp on Friday January 25 2019, @06:41AM (4 children)
Here's the thing, a smart home isn't the problem, Improper security protocol is. I use smart sensors and controls but I wall them off from the rest of the world and the rest of my networks. A simple VPN to your own assets and you can have a smart home with ubiquitous access and improved security.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 25 2019, @12:53PM (2 children)
here's the thing.
rather than waste time and energy with these idiotic devices, spend 15mins a week talking to your neighbours and becoming friends.
then, when you're on vacation and you can't remember if you locked the back door, call them and ask them to check it.
advantages:
1. most neighbours are smarter than these smart devices.
2. you talk to people instead of tinkering with spying devices.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 25 2019, @01:51PM
Still doesn't catch anyone in case you get robbed and neighbor is watching TV or not home.
Don't offload security to your neighbor. They are just an added feature.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 25 2019, @06:40PM
Most people here would sooner trust their own technical skills than the competence, attention span, and goodwill of some local meatbag.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 26 2019, @03:46AM