‘Hey beautiful’: Stranger hacks Missouri woman’s Furbo camera
By Alexis Zotos, News 4 Reporter
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ST. CHARLES, Missouri (KMOV) — Angela Cuniberti has had a Furbo camera for five years that tosses treats to her dogs Cal and Duke. But the other night something much worse than a treat came out.
“When I was walking I heard a man’s voice say “hey beautiful.” I basically freaked out, I thought someone came into my house. My dogs started barking like crazy,” Cuniberti said.
She realized the voice came from the Furbo camera.
“I see this little red light, and I said, ‘that’s weird it shouldn’t be on or anything at all’, I went to take a closer look and that’s when he started laughing,” she said.
It’s the latest in hacking attacks on internet connected cameras. From Ring cameras to baby monitors, hackers are getting in and scaring people but sometimes much worse.
“We put these little internet connected chips in all these devices and the problem is we’ve now opened up security problems everywhere,” Scott Granneman, a technology expert and adjunct professor at Webster University, said.
Granneman said once they connect to your camera, they can access your router, which would allow access to your computer and information.Cuniberti called police and contacted the company.
“I haven’t used it ever since. I did contact the Furbo company and they told me they could replace a new one and I said not to because I’m not doing that anymore,” she said.
The email from Furbo said the company takes security very seriously and that the hacker likely hacked her WiFi.
There are ways to prevent hackers from accessing Ring or Furbo cameras, according to Granneman.
“If you insist on getting one I would buy one from a well-known manufacturer and I would also check out their updates,” said Granneman.
He said the companies that update their software more frequently are often safer. But there’s no guarantee. Granneman said he does not allow any of those types of devices into his home.
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