One of the common questions our cyber security experts are asked is ‘what exactly can a criminal do with my stolen information?’. Our answer? The possibilities are truly endless! Nest home security cameras are the latest discussion topic as there have been increasing reports of unusual hacker activity.
One of the common questions our cyber security experts are asked is ‘what exactly can a criminal do with my stolen information?’. Our answer? The possibilities are truly endless! Nest home security cameras are the latest discussion topic as there have been increasing reports of unusual hacker activity.
Laura Lyons, United States, was the victim of a traumatic attack in which a hacker compromised her family’s Nest security system and played a fake security warning. The warning was severe in nature, suggesting the imminent arrival of North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles that were to land in Los Angeles, Chicago and Ohio.
Ms Lyons proceeded to call 911 to find out what was happening, but after being told that there was no such threat she called Nest. The Google owned home security company advised that she was likely the victim of a hoax and that hackers may have accessed her system.
While this may seem like an obscure way to be targeted by cyber criminals, it proves that breached data can be used in all manner of attacks. In this case, Ms Lyons’ login details were likely breached from a different site and because she was using the same credentials for her Nest security system, hackers were able to access and override it.
It’s incredibly important to ensure you are using unique credentials for every site that requires a login – and if your memory can’t keep up with all the passwords, use a password manager to help. Additionally, use two-factor authentication (sometimes referred to as two-step verification) to further secure your accounts – if a suspicious login attempt it made, you’ll be able to block it remotely.
To check if your information has ever been leaked in a data breach, use our dark web and security scan. We’ll let you know if your information has ever been compromised and any vulnerabilities that may mean you’re at risk of being targeted by cyber criminals.