A COUPLE have described the creepy moment a hacker cranked up their heat to 90F (32C) and spoke to them through their Google Nest camera. Samantha Westmoreland and her husband told how they felt “violated” when they heard the voice in their kitchen. They had installed a Google Nest camera, doorbell and thermostat in their […]
A COUPLE have described the creepy moment a hacker cranked up their heat to 90F (32C) and spoke to them through their Google Nest camera.
Samantha Westmoreland and her husband told how they felt “violated” when they heard the voice in their kitchen.
They had installed a Google Nest camera, doorbell and thermostat in their home in 2018 at a total cost of $700 (£566).
And the couple had no problems until they returned to their home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, last week to find it was blazing hot.
The thermostat had been turned all the way up to 90F (32C).
Mrs Westmoreland assumed it was a glitch and set it back to room temperature.
But the thermostat continued to go up and a voice began speaking from a camera in the kitchen before playing rude music.
“My heart was racing,” Mrs Westmoreland told Fox.
“I felt so violated at that point.”
The couple said they believe that their wireless internet system was compromised, which enabled the hacker to gain access to their smart-home devices.
They want to raise awareness about home system hackers, saying: “It is super scary, and you don’t realize it until it’s actually happening to you”.
Mrs Westmoreland added: “It’s supposed to make me feel safe and I didn’t feel safe.”
In a statement on the incident, Google said Nest was not breached.
“These reports are based on customers using compromised passwords (exposed through breaches on other websites).
“In nearly all cases, two-factor verification eliminates this type of security risk,” the company said.
“Nest users have the option to migrate to a Google Account, giving them access to additional tools and automatic security protections such as suspicious activity detection, two-step verification and security check-up.
“Millions of users have signed up for two-factor verification.”
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