The Newest IoT Threat: Child Predators

Connected devices at home can record the voices, movements, weight and eating habits of those who live there. They are, in effect, very sophisticated sensors installed in the home environment. As such, they can be utilized by all sorts of people with various motivations and intentions of harming us.

One very common belief about cybersecurity is that the main risks involve criminals stealing something we have -- be it money, information, or identity. Unfortunately, there is even more at stake. We need to be aware that “going online” carries risks even when we are attentive to our digital engagement (ex. securing our passwords, avoiding strangers). Recently, these risks have expanded beyond the security of our online possessions to threaten our personal safety as well.

We know we’re not supposed to post on social media that we are leaving our homes for a long vacation, and we teach our kids about the perils that lurk online, from predators to bullies. However, this understanding (which took years to be acknowledged properly) is limited to the “online” domain, meaning that we know what to do and what not to do when we access the web via our computers or mobile phones.

The problem is that many more connected devices have recently entered our lives, posing new risks to our safety and privacy. Connected devices at home can record the voices, movements, weight and eating habits of those who live there. They are, in effect, very sophisticated sensors installed in the home environment. As such, they can be utilized by all sorts of people with various motivations and intentions of harming us.

Voyeurism

Voyeurs can now remotely tap into connected camera feeds and record imagery of our private homes and lives. Since these images are essentially a live feed filmed without the victims’ awareness, they can be very intimate. At this point, most parents know that webcams are risky, and either monitor their kids’ behavior around laptops or cover up the webcams altogether. However, people still seem oblivious to the dangers of connected security cameras, most of which are installed using default passwords that allow even novice hackers to connect to them and view the feed. Some cameras even have built-in vulnerabilities and “backdoors” that enable remote access even if properly configured. The ability to hack into a camera enables perverts to record, store, sell and distribute sensitive materials, all without the victims’ knowledge. How is a consumer supposed to know which cameras are the most secure?