How To Prevent Hackers From Spying On Your Family Through Your Ring Cameras

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A terrifying warning after hackers harrassed a little girl by compromising the Ring camera in her bedroom.

Ring cameras are a popular holiday purchase, the little girl's family got theirs through a Black Friday sale. But, they are among a growing number of families who reported hackers accessing their Ring cameras, and in some cases, spewing racial slurs or harassing children.

Just four days after her parents installed the camera in the kids' room, a stranger began taunting 8-year-old Alyssa with music and encouraging her to use racial slurs, mess up her room, and break her tv. A Florida family says hackers also accessed their Ring camera and spewed racial slurs at their son.

So, how are they hacking the cameras? The Motherboard reporters at Vice found several posts on crime forums with hackers selling software created to hack Ring cameras. The software lets them quickly cycle through possible passwords until they unlocked the account.

In a statement, Ring said in part: "While we are still investigating this issue... we are able to confirm this incident is in no way related to a breach or compromise of Ring's security."

The family admitted they did not enable the two-factor authentication on their account, which Ring strongly encourages. They also recommend using strong, unique passwords to protect your security.