Smart cameras and baby monitors can be watched by criminals over the internet by default, security chiefs have warned.
The National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC) is advising people to tweak the settings after buying them. Easy-to-guess default passwords might let a hacker secretly observe a home through connected devices, it said.
Gavin Millard, VP of Intelligence at Tenable, said: “As users we must start to consider how we use and secure devices in the home – and that means a robust, unique password, that isn’t used anywhere else on the internet. If the device has two factor authentication then use it, as this helps reduce the probability of unauthorised access.
“At the moment, IoT device manufacturers consider usability versus security for an end-user’s ‘out of the box’ experience. I’d personally prefer this to be reversed so we see security policies, such as two factor authentication, enabled by default. Until then, do yourself a favour and take the time to set it up – it’s a simple process that takes 30 seconds and the additional peace of mind is worth it.”
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