The popular cameras have a weakness which means that hackers can easily use them to spy on their owners.
Part of the functionality of GoPro cameras, as well as similar devices from rival manufacturers, is that you can easily share the video that you have recorded via the internet. However convenient this in-built internet connectivity may be, it also leaves the devices vulnerable to hackers, according to News Channel 10.
GoPro easily hacked by security experts
Pen Test Partners, a security analyst company, demonstrated to the BBC just how easy it is to hack a GoPro camera. They claim that hackers can secretly listen to conversations, as well as view videos on the camera and delete them, while the camera will appear to be switched off.
“They transmit video over the internet. Well of course, if data is transmitted over the internet, hackers are going to find a way to get that information and to hack that stuff,” said Andrew Brandt of All Star Computer Service.
Brandt claims that the hackers are able to spy on you even if the wireless connection of your GoPro is turned off. “These hackers are able to get in, run an encryption test on that password, find something that is really easily hackable and once they are in, they are in,” he said. “They can see your camera and see you from your camera.”
Strong passwords remain crucial to ensure security
As scary as that may sound, the solution is actually rather simple. When configuring how a GoPro will connect to the Internet, users should be sure to make their password as strong as possible.
“Whenever we set up passwords for customers, we actually tell them not to use a password but actually a passphrase, such as “myanniversaryis0610″ so that it is not as easily hackable as just one word,” continued Brandt.
The increasing connectivity offered by the Internet of Things means that it is of paramount importance to set up strong, individual passwords across the range of devices which are connected to the internet and to each other.
