This article is more than 1 year old

Possessed baby monitor shouts obscenities at Texas tot

'Somewhat of a blessing' the child is deaf, say parents

A Texas father ripped out the baby video monitor he'd installed to watch over his two year-old daughter after he heard a British or European man using the device to address the child by name.

Father of two Marc Gilbert told ABC News that he heard a male voice coming from inside his daughter's bedroom, calling out her name and making lewd comments to the child, calling her a "little slut."

When Marc and his wife entered the room the voice began cussing them out, calling him a moron and his wife a "bitch," before Gilbert forcibly disconnected the device. The couple's other child was not disturbed by the incident.

"[I] Couldn't see the guy. All you could do was hear his voice and [that] he was controlling the camera," Gilbert said, adding that his daughter wasn't woken by the hacker because she's deaf. "It's somewhat of a blessing," he added. "If she had heard it it would have been a big problem."

He said that both the camera and the family's wireless network are firewalled and password protected, but that this hadn't stopped the European miscreant from gaining control of the device.

"It's quite possible that this had been going on more than one day," he said. "Security vulnerabilities exist."

Gilbert didn't contact the police but did call his internet service provider, who recommended changing the passwords on the device as a way of locking it down. But Gilbert says it's a case of once bitten twice shy and he won't be turning the monitor back on.

"I don't think it ever will be connected again," he said. "I think we are going to go without the baby monitor now." ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like