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My neighbor's smart doorbell got hacked and started talking to his kids

It happened in our apartment building in Austin last month, and the voice was telling them to open the door for a delivery that wasn't real. I looked it up and found out the default password was never changed, so now I check every smart device I set up. What's the first thing you do when you get a new gadget that connects to your wifi?
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3 Comments
gavin_reed
gavin_reed1d agoMost Upvoted
I mean, it's wild how we just accept this stuff now. My new coffee maker needed an app and a wifi password, which is crazy to me. It feels like every single thing in the house is becoming a little security risk. I had to update the firmware on my own light bulbs last week. We're all just living in a future where you gotta baby-proof your network along with everything else.
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shanejackson
My buddy in Phoenix had his smart thermostat cranked to 95 degrees by a hacker last summer. The first thing I do now is dig through the awful manual to find the factory reset button. I hold it down for a full minute before I even plug the thing in, just to wipe any old settings. Then I make up a password that looks like my keyboard had a seizure.
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riverw85
riverw8519d ago
That's actually a solid plan. Might start doing the same thing.
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