Can Smart Doorbells Be Hacked? How Safe Are They!

Do you afraid that your smart doorbell might be hacked? how will you know if it did and what can we do to prevent it? Let’s discuss these important issues!

Smart Doorbells are very popular these days because they allow you to add the additional layer of security to your home. Having a smart doorbell also allows you to check who is visiting your house and you can easily find out what is going on at your front door.

However, just like other smart gadgets, Smart doorbells are also not completely flawless. Recently, we have seen reports of Ring’s smart bells being hacked by hackers and many Ring doorbell’s users are worried about their privacy.

Here is an article on my website that you must read, its about the Best 4 Smart Doorbells Without A Camera In 2023.

In this comprehensive guide, we will address some of the most important questions about Smart Doorbell’s hacking and how you can protect your gadgets. Let’s get started.

Can Smart Doorbells Be Hacked?

Let’s address the elephant in the room first. The simple answer to this question is YES. Smart Doorbells can be hacked and we have seen many similar cases in the past.

Ring found the vulnerability in their system where the data was being sent to the Chinese Internet Provider Baidu. The company immediately fixed this issue and released a press release where they told that the system diverted the data for only 20 milliseconds.

The company also insisted that it wasn’t a breach and it was just a vulnerability. Similarly, we have seen many cases where people reported that they heard strange voices from their smart gadgets and smart doorbells.

The hacking of gadgets is not new because every year hundreds and thousands of tech gadgets and computers are hacked by the companies. If you are concerned about your privacy then don’t worry and keep reading because we will tell you how you can fix this problem.

How Can I Tell If My Smart Doorbell Is Hacked?

Hacking any smart doorbell is not an easy process and it required a lot of work to do it. However, the hacking attacks are not the rise these days and you would want to protect yourself. The best way to find out if your smart doorbell or any gadget is hacked or not is by looking for some signs.

For example, if the security settings of your smart doorbells have been changed and you didn’t do it then it is a Red sign. Try to reset it yourself or you can contact the customer support.

Similarly, if you see any blinking LED light or see any rotation in the camera or if you head any strange voices from your camera then it is also a red sign and you should immediately disconnect the device and contact the customer support.

If you are a tech-savvy person then you can also look at your data flow. By Analyzing that data flow, you can easily find out where your data is being sent and if you find any discrepancy then you will know that there is something wrong with your smart doorbell or smart device. You should take the precautionary measures such as disconnecting the Wi-Fi and contact the customer support.

How Can A Hacker Hack My Smart Doorbell?

When it comes to the Hacking, Hackers can either compromise the security on the server end or at the user end. In the case of the Server end, Hackers can exploit any vulnerability at the server end and compromise the data.

This scenario is highly unlikely because companies such as Ring and others use the advanced firewall and data authentication algorithms to ensure that your data is secure.

Many hackers prefer to target the user end where they target someone by compromising his/her Wi-Fi, Ring Account, or remotely hacking the device.

For example, if your Wi-Fi doesn’t have a strong password then the hackers can get into your Wi-Fi and then they can compromise the connected devices to the internet.

Similarly, if your Ring Account doesn’t have a secure password then they can also crack the password and then compromise your privacy.

The last way to hack to your smart doorbell is by streaming. When there is any data breach, the hackers can get into your system and compromise your security.

How To Prevent Hackers From Hacking Your Smart Doorbell?

The first step in preventing hackers from hacking your smart doorbell or other smart devices is to pick the company with a good reputation. When picking the company, also make sure that they should use the encryption for the data transfer between your device and the server.

Most companies do use encryption for communication but make sure that your company also uses strong encryption. Also, read the users’ reviews about the company as it will help you know about the company’s customer support and the service.

The next step is to use a Strong Password for your Ring Account and Wi-Fi. Many people set a simple password such as “bear123” for the Ring Accounts which is not secure.

Any Hacker with brute force attack can easily crack this password which means your privacy will be compromised. Instead, we would recommend you use a strong password which should include at least 1 Upper Letter, a few digits and a few special characters.

Also, make sure that you don’t use any common detail such as your name, your loved one name or any name which can be easily by the Hacker. If you pick a password following these guidelines then it will be almost impossible to break the password.

If you can’t think of any strong password then you can also use the online Password Generator which can help you create a strong password.

If you use the Ring Smart doorbell then you can enable the Two Factor Authentication (2FA) which will provide an additional layer of security. If hackers, somehow, crack your password, even then they would need to enter the confirmation password, in order to access your account.

If you enable the Two Factor Authentication then the company will send the unique confirmation password at your mobile via SMS and only you will know it.

Last but not the least, make sure that your Wi-Fi should have impeccable security. You can beef up the security of your W-Fi by using the following steps:

• Use the strong password to ensure that your password is secure.
• Regularly change your Network Name regularly just to confuse if someone is trying to hack your Wi-Fi Network.
• Make sure that your router has encryption. You can find the encryption methods in the wireless settings of the Router. Normally, you will find WEP, WPA, WPA2. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is easy to break and hard to configure. WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) is relatively easy to configure but it can also be cracked. WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access Version 2) is the most secure encryption and it uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) which is also used by the governments and militaries around the world. If you want the best security then make sure that your Wi-Fi should use the WPA2 encryption.
• You can also enable MAC Filter. Every wireless device comes with unique MAC Addresses which you can use for an additional layer of security. You can enable the MAC Filter on your Router which would allow only the specified devices to connect to your Wi-Fi. This feature will provide good security and add an additional layer of security.
• Also, make sure to regularly update the router firmware to ensure that you have the latest firmware. Companies release the firmware updates to fix the vulnerabilities and if your router doesn’t have the latest firmware then hackers can exploit the potential vulnerability and compromise the security of your Wi-Fi.

Conclusion

The idea of smart doorbells is to provide an additional layer of security to your home. They have been successful in doing so and the cases of hacking are very few.

However, just like any other device which connects to the Wi-Fi, Smart doorbells can also be hacked but you can add the different security layers to ensure that this doesn’t happen with you.

In this article, we have shared some of the most effective security measures which you can use to ensure that your privacy is intact. Also, make sure to check out my post on Which Smart Doorbells Work With Alexa?