# Parents hear strange voice on their baby monitor. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139 "2014-04-27T22:40:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/1 "2014-04-27T22:40:03Z")
_He was screaming, ‘Wake up baby. Wake up baby.’ Then just screaming at her trying to wake her up._ :eek: Geez, never under estimate the ingenuity of the twisted sickos on the Net. I didn’t realize remote controlled video cams were available. They could make a horror movie [using this camera.](http://www.amazon.com/Foscam-FI8918W-Wireless-Network-Viewing/dp/B0046710G6) Imagine that thing turning and following you around the room. Yikes. > **[Hacker hijacks baby monitor](https://www.fox19.com/story/25310628/hacked-baby-monitor/)** > > A Hebron couple were terrified when a hacker hijacked their baby's monitor in the middle of the night. > [@](#): > > That’s when Heather’s husband, Adam, ran into Emma’s room. Adam said the camera then turned from his petrified daughter to point directly at him. > > “Then it screamed at me,” Adam said. “Some bad things, some obscenities. So I unplugged the camera.” > > But the Schrecks were only beginning to plug into the truth of what had just happened. > > “Someone had hacked in from outside,” Heather said. > > So how many other times had someone hacked into their camera and watched their baby through their Foscam IP Camera. > > “You do kind of feel violated in a way,” Adam said. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/2 "2014-04-28T00:03:08Z")
Holy crap, that’s got to be terrifying! Wayback in the old days (circa 1992) we had an audio only baby monitor that kept picking up our neighbor’s cordless phone conversations. She was going through a rather ugly divorce at the time, and the phone calls were definitely private in nature. The eerie part is that although it had a hard wired cord, it must have had some sort of unadvertised battery storage in it, because it would pick up and broadcast her phone conversations even when we unplugged it! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/3 "2014-04-28T02:50:24Z")
I was quite surprised cams now include voice capabilities. I haven’t paid much attention to the tech in quite a few years. Me? If I bought a laptop with a cam built in it would get covered with black tape day 1. If it had a microphone then I’d pull off the cover and find a way to physically unplug it from the motherboard. I’d look for a video cam cable to unplug too. \*\* Last resort\*\*, snip the damn wires with a pair of dykes. I don’t want some puke getting his laughs listening in or watching what goes on in my bedroom. There’s been too many news articles about hackers getting into the network through these devices. It’s not just a privacy concern. It’s a security concern too. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/4 "2014-04-28T03:27:58Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Holy crap, that’s got to be terrifying! > > Wayback in the old days (circa 1992) we had an audio only baby monitor that kept picking up our neighbor’s cordless phone conversations. She was going through a rather ugly divorce at the time, and the phone calls were definitely private in nature. The eerie part is that although it had a hard wired cord, it must have had some sort of unadvertised battery storage in it, because it would pick up and broadcast her phone conversations even when we unplugged it! All I ever got was a local radio station on my [Ericophine](http://www.google.com/search?q=erica+phone&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&imgil=8XC0pwaIVhQUSM%253A%253Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ft0.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcTJNxmFAH7KMRt5mtb9ahVUbemlKi8bAAUCufdEuKGaZAXV6VLJ%253B505%253B650%253BnZDlyikqfPAsgM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.pinterest.com%25252Fpin%25252F170925748329474465%25252F&source=iu&usg=__4ps0oLYH9Wx_Csnl1lP-rEg4-hc%3D&sa=X&ei=-cldU7iUEKicygHUgYHYBg&ved=0CDMQ9QEwAg#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=pBbCSUuYSjdm8M%253A%3B1N5wb_MV_darcM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmedia-cache-ec0.pinimg.com%252F236x%252F68%252F53%252F2f%252F68532f3c56ae4b59db69f24378d7e767.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.pinterest.com%252Frailroadtowne%252Fmid-century-modern%252F%3B225%3B300) It took days to find out where it was coming from, because it was, intermittent, and only happened when no one was on the phone. I was pregnant and emotional, so it made for a difficult time for my husband. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/5 "2014-04-28T03:35:52Z")
This is why this sort of hacking needs to be a major felony (and a sex offense). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/6 "2014-04-28T03:58:23Z")
Another recent case. Webcams are not secure. IMHO I wouldn’t advise having one in any private part of your home. If you absolutely need Skype or some other program then at least put the pc in a neutral area. Like a office or kitchen. Somewhere you’d normally not be embarrassed if seen or heard. (obviously the bedroom is the worst place you could pick) Do what you can with software to ensure it’s off, but remember hackers can turn it on if they get into your network. > **[Miss Teen USA: Screamed upon learning she was ‘sextortion’ victim | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/27/us/miss-teen-usa-sextortion/)** > > Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf, a victim of “sextortion,” recognized the suspect, Jared James Abrahams, as a former high school classmate. > [@](#): > > The college student accused of hijacking the webcam of Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf and other young women is a former high school classmate of the pageant winner. > > Jared James Abrahams, 19, was arrested Thursday for allegedly taking nude images of the women using their own webcams, and then blackmailing them to send more explicit material. > > 2011: Hacker gets 6 years in prison for ‘sextortion’ scheme > [@](#): > > “When I got the first e-mail, I read the first three lines and I quickly scrolled through it and saw it was a long e-mail,” she said. “Two photos of me were attached. I literally threw my phone across the room and started screaming. It did not feel real, it was like a horror movie.” ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/7 "2014-04-28T04:13:47Z")
Their name is Schreck?! Anyway, my sister was issued a new laptop through work and it was already set up with specific cloud type file sharing software. When she showed it to me I noticed it had a built in camera. I went to the drawer in the kitchen and handed her a role of black electrical tape and told her she should cover the cam right now. She told me I was paranoid and didn’t do it. Maybe I am. She never has video meetings so there’s no need for it. Why take a chance? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/8 "2014-04-28T04:30:24Z")
A school district in Pennsylvania distributed computers to its students. It installed software intended to help find lost or stolen computers. [A student was surprised when a school official confronted him with pictures of him misbehaving at home.](http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/021910-pennsylvania-school-accused-of-cyberspying.html) Apparently the school district left the web cams on and was retrieving the pictures. [They later settled a lawsuit brought by the families of four children.](http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/pa-school-district-laptop-spying-case-settled) ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/9 "2014-04-28T04:36:00Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > A school district in Pennsylvania distributed computers to its students. It installed software intended to help find lost or stolen computers. [A student was surprised when a school official confronted him with pictures of him misbehaving at home.](http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/021910-pennsylvania-school-accused-of-cyberspying.html) Apparently the school district left the web cams on and was retrieving the pictures. > > [They later settled a lawsuit brought by the families of four children.](http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/pa-school-district-laptop-spying-case-settled) I didn’t mention it in my earlier post but my sister is a teacher. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/10 "2014-04-28T04:57:34Z")
You mean it is now impossible to raise a baby without digital monitoring devices? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/11 "2014-04-28T15:12:46Z")
This is part of a long trend, and I think there have been a bunch of stories like this about similar devices: they are not secure at all, or they’re not automatically secure. People who buy them need to know this. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/12 "2014-04-28T15:53:32Z")
They’re not automatically secure. I’ve have the same camera for about 4 years, but it’s on a random 5 digit port and has a good password. I could cut it off from the internet, but I like viewing it remotely. It’s just pointed at the yard anyway, I wouldn’t put it indoors. I bet most people keep them on port 80 with the factory password or something just as bad. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/13 "2014-04-29T03:26:46Z")
I’m fairly sure it would have been “hacked” in the loosest sense of the word. I’d bet the camera itself opened ports via [UPnP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play); a web search for “AwesomeCam 2000” and a default password later and you’re watching someone’s garage or livingroom or whatever. If you know the proper syntax Google is fine - if you’re not that l337 then something like [Shodan](http://www.shodanhq.com/browse/tag/webcam) makes it a mouse-click operation. I actually own a knock-off clone of the very camera you linked to, but a) it has a password b) I disabled UPnP years ago c) for anyone watching me nude the crime is the punishment. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/14 "2014-04-29T13:32:08Z")
How exactly was this camera hacked? If it was not secured than anyone could access it with a simple [google search](https://www.google.com/#q=inurl%3AViewerFrame%3FMode%3D). Me and my friends used to do this for entertainment, we never thought of it as hacking. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/15 "2014-04-29T14:27:28Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Holy crap, that’s got to be terrifying! > > Wayback in the old days (circa 1992) we had an audio only baby monitor that kept picking up our neighbor’s cordless phone conversations. She was going through a rather ugly divorce at the time, and the phone calls were definitely private in nature. The eerie part is that although it had a hard wired cord, it must have had some sort of unadvertised battery storage in it, because it would pick up and broadcast her phone conversations even when we unplugged it! Heh, my friends had an audio baby monitor that was on the same frequency as someone else’s - it would pick up the sound of the other family’s baby crying all the time, and the other parent’s increasingly-frantic attempts to soothe it (poor thing was colicy, which is a special place in hell for first-time parents!) It got to the point that they had to junk it - they could not figure out how to change the frequency. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/16 "2014-04-30T00:52:36Z")
Then there’s [this](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/08/technology/the-spy-in-the-soda-machine.html?_r=1), where companies’ security is getting breached through things like Chinese restaurant menus, soda machines, and networked AC controls. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-hear-strange-voice-on-their-baby-monitor/687139/17 "2014-05-09T00:32:14Z")
I’ve been thinking about this, and my big take-away is, **what a waste**. I mean, you have control over a baby monitor without the parents’ knowledge, and THIS is the best prank you could come up with? My thoughts: Start small. When the kid is asleep, softly say, “MAmamamama!” Soon, move to, “MAma! MAma!” Next night: “Bottle! Mama! Bottle!” Next night: “Feed me, mama! Mama, Feed me!” Next night, just grab a book of Nietschze and do a read-aloud, in your best baby voice.