Can digital baby monitors be hacked?
Perhaps one of the most useful products for our babies is baby monitors and monitors. It is a useful piece of kit to have as you can control your baby wherever you are as long as you have a good wifi connection. As a parent, the thought that your child may not be safe in their own room is worrisome. If you have a baby monitor in the room, especially one that connects to your WiFi, the truth is, it can be hacked.
How can your baby monitor be hacked?
Almost any baby monitor can be hacked. However, the type of monitor you use will largely determine how difficult or easy it is for a hacker to do this. Radio monitors communicate over a short to medium range on a specific frequency. To hack these radio monitors, a hacker would need to physically access the signal and know at what frequency to communicate.
To protect your baby monitor from hacker attack:
There are a few simple steps you can take to completely protect your baby monitor from hackers and your entire WiFi network.
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- Secure your wireless router:
- Update your router’s firmware
- Disable remote access to your router
- Use a strong password for your WiFi network
- Fix your baby monitor:
- Register your product with the manufacturer to receive software updates and address potential security risks
- Remove default login details and set a new password
- Disable DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name System) if there is an option
- Disable port forwarding or UPnP if it is an option
- Disable remote access
- If you absolutely need remote accessto your baby monitor to stream video while you’re away , do the following:
- Change the default camera access port. It will probably be set to 80 right now, you can change it to anything above 8200.
- Regularly verify your monitor logs for suspicious activity such as foreign IP addresses or strange access times.
- Secure your wireless router:
Following all of the above checklist items will significantly strengthen your network and help prevent your baby monitor from being hacked.
