Rechercher
Contactez-nous Suivez-nous sur Twitter En francais English Language
 











Freely subscribe to our NEWSLETTER

Newsletter FR

Newsletter EN

Vulnérabilités

Unsubscribe

Top 10 strange things that got hacked

May 2022 by Atlas VPN

As technologies are taking increasingly more significant parts of our lives, so are cyber threats. Sometimes hackers catch us off guard where we least expect them to.

With Stranger Things 4th season release approaching, the Atlas VPN team compiled a list of ten strange things that have been hacked.

Casino hacked via fish tank thermometer

Everyone knows that computers and smartphones are vulnerable to hacks. But have you ever thought that hackers could steal data via a smart thermometer? This is precisely what happened to a casino in North America.

The cybercriminals found and exploited a vulnerability in a smart thermometer used to monitor the water of a fish tank in the casino’s lobby and got a foothold in the network. They then found a high roller database, which possibly included information about the casino’s biggest spending clientele along with other personal information. The hackers dragged the database across the network through the thermostat and up to the cloud, essentially stealing it.

Baby monitors allow hackers to interact with children

The last thing that any parent wants is to put their children in danger. However, getting a smart baby monitor might do just that.

In one instance, a hacker broke into a Nest wireless system used by a Texan couple to monitor their infant son and started shouting sexual swear words to the four-month-old baby. When a couple, who was lying in bed at the time of the event, turned on the light to go upstairs and check on the baby, their own camera turned on, and the hacker threatened to kidnap the child if they did. Thankfully, it was a baby monitor hack, and no physical threat was present. In another case, a family in Minnesota found photos of their baby posted on another website due to a baby monitor compromise.

Kids’ toys classified as illegal surveillance devices

In addition to baby monitors, smart kids’ toys also hold many cyber risks.
In Germany, smart-doll My Friend Cayla was banned since it was found it could be hacked via its Bluetooth connection. The hacker then could listen in on conversations or communicate directly with the child. The German Federal Network Agency classified Cayla as an ’illegal espionage apparatus’.

In another instance, CloudPets, cute plush toys that come in the form of various animals, came under fire for various security infringements. Researchers found the toy could be used to transmit the hacker’s voice via a Bluetooth connection. In fact, researchers hacked one of the toys and made it order itself some cat food from a nearby Amazon Echo.

Cybersecurity writer and researcher at Atlas VPN Ruta Cizinauskaite shares her advice on how to protect your smart devices against hacks:

“Keeping smart devices up to date, changing the default passwords and usernames, enabling second-factor authentication, and using VPN when possible are just some things consumers can do to minimize the risk of their smart devices getting hacked. However, whenever getting a smart device, it is important to weigh the benefits against the risks. While a smartphone is more or less a must in today’s world, a smart toy with questionable security might bring more harm than joy.”


See previous articles

    

See next articles












Your podcast Here

New, you can have your Podcast here. Contact us for more information ask:
Marc Brami
Phone: +33 1 40 92 05 55
Mail: ipsimp@free.fr

All new podcasts