Video doorbells can be hacked: Consumer Reports [Video]

Video doorbells allow you to see who is coming and going from your home, or check if a package you’ve been expecting gets dropped off.

It may seem hard to believe, as many use the hardware to promote security, but now some criminals are hacking into video doorbells, monitoring and video streaming victim’s routines.

An investigation conducted by Consumer Reports (CR) found that video from a video doorbell can be accessed from almost 5,000 kilometres away.

• Download our app to get alerts on your device
• Get the latest local updates right to your inbox

While outsiders are not supposed to be able to view the video, the security was so poor upon CR’s investigation that researchers were able to access it.

“We were really surprised to find that anyone could walk up to one of these doorbells and take it over in a matter of seconds, and from there actually view screenshots of the doorbell,” Consumer Reports’ Dan Wroclawski said.

Tests revealed that a number of video doorbells …