The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that hackers are taking over poorly secured smart devices in order to live-stream swatting incidents.
"Recently, some hackers have used victims' smart devices, including home appliance monitoring devices with video and audio capabilities, to carry out swatting attacks," the FBI said in a statement released today.
Officials say hackers are taking over devices on which the owners created accounts, but reusing credentials that had previously been leaked online during data breaches at other companies.
The hackers then make calls to law enforcement agencies and report a fake crime at the victims.
"As law enforcement arrives at the residence, the perpetrator watches on a live stream and makes contact with responding police via camera and speakers," the FBI said.
“In some cases, the perpetrator also live-streams the incident on shared online community platforms.”
These types of incidents, called swatting, have increased in the US in recent years and have even led to deaths of people shot by police.
The first known swatting incidents broadcast live online date back to mid-2010. The difference between the FBI reports now circulating and those initial incidents is that the devices had not been hacked.
Hackers identify social events that will be broadcast online and arrange to live-stream the swatting incident.
Many of these swatting calls are made through online services that provide anonymous calling – such as Discord bots and some services on the dark web.
To address this situation, office officials said they are working with device vendors to advise customers on how they could choose better passwords for their devices.
Additionally, the FBI said it is working to alert law enforcement first responders to this new variation of swatting so they can respond accordingly.
For device owners, the advice being circulated is classic: Use complex and unique passwords for each of your online accounts. Use two-factor authentication where available.
Information source: zdnet.com
