Morecambe family's home hacked by TV experts

Technology experts hacked their way into a Morecambe family's home gaining access to personal pictures and live footage through baby monitors.

The Woodhouse family were approached by ITV and asked if they would allow a team of hackers to attempt to get into their technology around the home.

The family, who are avid online bloggers, said yes in a bid to raise awareness of how easy it can be to get hacked.

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The TV team gained entry to their wifi code within a day which allowed them access to baby monitors, laptops, TVs, iPads, mobiles and smart watches.

“As soon as they get the password it opens doors, on the baby monitor they could hear everything, it was quite scary,” said dad Luke, 30.

“If anyone wants to find your stuff they will get it, I don’t think it matters who you are. We all have to try and stay one step ahead of the game.”

The ITV team set up camp on the Woodhouse driveway for three days during filming.

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Within a day they hacked the eight-digit wifi code using software on a laptop which can test 10,000 password tries a second.

Luke and wife Fiona, 28, who have three boys, Travis, six, Roman, four and Ace, who is six months, were told if they add another two digits to their wifi password they can make it 672,000 times harder for hackers.

The family featured on ITV’s ‘Can Crooks Hack Your Home?’ which aired on Thursday night.

“We did it to try and make the average person aware of the vulnerabilities,” said Luke.

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“There are a lot of hackers who try and get into homes now and they even put messages up on TVs and can get into your laptop for pictures and confidential information,” said Luke.

The family have now changed their password, updated technology and backed up pictures to a different hard drive. If you think you have been a victim of hacking, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

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