Arjun and Jessica Sud routinely use a baby monitor to keep tabs on their 7-month-old's bedroom. Last month, they heard something chilling through the monitor: A deep male voice was speaking to their child.
"Immediately I barge into the room because I'm like, 'Oh my God, maybe someone got in there,' " said Arjun Sud, 29. "The moment I walk in, it's quiet."
The couple grabbed their son, now fully awake, and headed downstairs. When they passed their Nest thermostat, normally set around 72 degrees, they noticed it had been turned up to 90. Then, the voice was back, coming through the speaker in a downstairs security camera. And this time, it was talking to them.
The voice was rude and vulgar, cursing, he said. At first he yelled back. But then Sud composed himself and stared into the camera.
"He was like, 'Why are you looking at me? I see you watching me,' " Sud said. "That's when I started to question him back."
The Lake Barrington, Ill., family's Nest cameras and thermostat had been hacked.
"I felt like I [was] trapped in an episode of 'Black Mirror,' " Arjun Sud said, referring to a television series that explores the darker aspects of technology. "All these devices you've put in there to safeguard yourself, to protect your home, your family, [are] now being used maliciously to turn against you."
Nest users across the country have reported similar incidents in recent weeks, but the Google-owned company has insisted that it was not breached. Instead, Nest has said that affected customers could have done more to protect their devices. And on Wednesday, Nest sent an e-mail to users telling them what they can do to "get the most out of" its security features.
Google spokeswoman Nicol Addison said the company automatically rolls out updates to its software and stays on top of security and safety measures. Addison declined to comment on specific hacking incidents.
The smart home devices Americans are increasingly installing — which connect to the internet and can be controlled and monitored remotely via smartphone app — are ushering in unprecedented convenience for homeowners on the go, but they also represent one of the new hacking frontiers.
There are no firm numbers about the number of smart devices that have been hacked, but experts expect the problem to grow along with the proliferation of smart devices, which include speakers like Google Home and Amazon Echo, thermostats, doorbells, and other household devices. Twenty-five billion connected devices are expected to be in use by 2021, up from 14.2 billion this year, according to research company Gartner.
Cyber criminals usually gain access to connected devices through a weak password or a vulnerability in the device itself, such as how it's programmed or how it connects to the internet, said Karl Sigler, threat intelligence manager at SpiderLabs, a team of ethical hackers at the Chicago-based cybersecurity company Trustwave.
It can be hard for homeowners to notice when a smart device has been compromised. Sometimes, the device is just slower, unresponsive or reboots without notice.
Nest said affected customers were reusing passwords that had been compromised on other sites and encouraged users to make sure their routers and home networks are updated. The company also suggests using two-factor verification on their devices.
