Two Pink Lines

Depending on your life experiences, the phrase (or country song by Eric Church) “two pink lines” may bring up a wide range of powerful emotions.    I suspect, like many fathers and expecting fathers, I will never forget the moment I found out my wife was pregnant.  You might recall what you were doing, or where you were and maybe even what you were thinking.   As a professional ethical hacker, I have been told many times – “You just think a little differently about things.”   I sure hope so, since that’s my day job and sure enough this experience wasn’t any different.  My brain immediately asked the question, “How am I going to ensure my family is protected from a wide range of cyberthreats?”   Having a newborn opens the door to all sorts of new technology and I would be a fool not to take advantage of all devices that makes parenting easier.   So how do we do this safely?

The A-B -C ‘s

The security industry has a well-known concept called the “principle of least privilege. “This simply means that you don’t give a piece of technology more permissions or access than it needs to perform its primary function.   This can be applied well beyond just technology that helps parents; however, for me it’s of extra importance when we talk about our kids.  One of the parenting classes I took preparing for our newborn suggested we use a baby tracking phone app.   This was an excellent idea, since I hate keeping track of anything on paper.  So I started looking at a few different apps for my phone and discovered one of them asked for permission to use “location services,” also known as GPS, along with access to my phone contacts.  This caused me to pause and ask: Why does an app to track my baby’s feeding schedule need to know where I am?  Why does it need to know who my friends are?   These are the types of questions parents should consider before just jumping into the hottest new app.  For me, I found a different, less popular app which has the same features, just with a little less access.

It’s not always as easy to just “find something else.”  In my house, “if momma ain’t happy, nobody is happy.”  So, when my wife decided on a specific breast pump that came with Bluetooth and is internet enabled, that’s the one she is going to use.   The app backs up all the usage data to a server in the cloud.   There are many ways that this can be accomplished securely, and it is not necessary a bad feature, but I didn’t feel this device benefited from being internet connected.   Therefore, I simply lowered its privileges by not allowing it internet access in the settings on her phone.  The device works perfectly fine, she can show the doctor the data from her phone, yet we have limited our online exposure and footprint just a little more.  This simple concept of least privilege can be applied almost everywhere and goes a long way to limiting your exposure to cyber threats.

Peek-A-Boo

I think one of the most sought after and used products for new parents is the baby monitor or baby camera.   As someone who has spent a fair amount of time hacking cameras (or cameras on wheels) this was a large area of concern for me.  Most cameras these days are internet connected and if not, you often lose the ability to view the feed on your phone, which is a huge benefit to parents.  So how, as parents, do we navigate this securely?  While there is no silver bullet here, there are a few things to consider.    For starters, there are still many baby cameras on the market that come with their own independent video screen.  They generally use Wi-Fi and are only accessible from home.  If this system works for you, use it.  It is always more secure to have a video system which is not externally accessible.   If you really want to be able to use your phone, consider the below.

• Where is the recorded video and audio data being stored? This may not seem important if the device is internet connected anyway, but it can be.  If your camera data is being stored locally (DVR, SD card, network storage, etc.), then an attacker would need to hack your specific device to obtain this information.   If you combine this with good security hygiene such as a strong password and keeping your device updated, an attacker has to work very hard to access your camera data.  If we look at the alternative where your footage is stored in the cloud, and it becomes subject to a security breach, now your camera’s video content is collateral damage.  Large corporations are specifically targeted by cybercriminals because they provide a high ROI for the time spent on the attack; an individual practicing good cybersecurity hygiene becomes a much more difficult target providing less incentive for the attacker, thus becoming a less likely target.
• Is the camera on the same network as the rest of your home? An often-overlooked security implication to many IoT devices, but especially cameras, is outside of the threat of spying, but rather the threat of a network entry point. If the camera itself is compromised it can be used as a pivot point to attack other devices on your network.  A simple way to reduce this risk is to utilize the “guest” network feature that comes by default on almost all home routers.   These guest networks are preset to be isolated from your main network and generally require little to no setup.  By simply attaching your cameras to your guest network, you can reduce the risk of a compromised camera leading a cybercriminal to the banking info on your laptop.

Background checks – Not only for babysitters

Most parents, especially new ones, like to ensure that anyone that watches their children is thoroughly vetted.  There are a ton of services out there to do this for babysitters and nannies, however it’s not always as easy for vetting the companies that create the devices we put in our homes.  So how do we determine what is safe?  My father used to tell me: “It’s how we respond to our mistakes that makes the difference.”  When researching a company or device, should you find that the device has been found to have a vulnerability, often the response time and accountability from the vendor can tell you if it’s a company you should be investing in. Some things to look for include:

• Was the vulnerability quickly patched?
• Are there unpatched bugs still?
• Has a vendor self-reported flaws, fixed them and reported to the public they have been fixed?
• Are there numerous outstanding bugs filed against a company or device?
• Does the company not recognize the possibility of bugs in their products?

These answers can often be discovered on a company’s website or in release notes, which are generally attached to an update of a piece of software.   Take a minute to read the notes and see if the company is making security updates. You don’t need to understand all the details, just knowing they take security seriously enough to update frequently is important.  This can help tip the scales when deciding between devices or apps.

Remember, you can do this!

Through my preparation for becoming a new parent, I constantly read in books and was told by professionals, “Remember, you can do this!”  Cybersecurity in the context of being a parent is no different.  Every situation is different, and it is important to do what works with you and your family.  As parents, we shouldn’t be afraid to use all the cool new gadgets that are emerging on the market, but instead educate ourselves on how to limit our risk.  Which features do I need, which ones can I do without?   Remember always follow a vendor’s recommendations and best practices, and of course remember to breathe!

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