Police in the US have issued a warning to parents everywhere who own high-tech baby monitors, after one dad made a startling discovery while putting his son to bed this week.
The unnamed father told local media that he was reading his two-year-old son a bedtime story when he heard a muffled noise coming from the cot’s camera, which was mounted near the ceiling of the room. The father usually watches his son remotely through this camera, via a smartphone app.
Once he got up close to the camera however, he knew something was wrong when ‘eerie’ music began to play and he heard a man’s voice saying “as he rocks his son to sleep”.
“At that point, I took my son and went to the other room where my wife was. I said somebody hacked our camera, somebody’s watching us,” he said, adding that the couple then unplugged the camera.
The father, who didn’t want his name to be shared publicly, added: “It was pretty unnerving to know someone had gained access to that and to not know how long they were watching. They could have been doing this for months.”
In light of the disturbing incident – particularly with the father’s confirmation that he used high-security passwords on both his router and camera – authorities have urged parents to be extremely careful with similar technology.
