Home security camera hack causes panic for Auburn family

AUBURN, Wash. — Abby Laguidao told KIRO 7 she installed a Nest security camera in the corner of her living room about a month ago.

On Monday, Jan. 21, Laguidao’s 6-year-old twins were playing in the main room when they started hearing voices coming from that camera.

“The Nest started talking to us and that's when my kids were talking back (to it),” said Laguidao. “I thought they were talking to the TV, but they were actually talking back to the camera thinking it was my boyfriend."

But when Laguidao realized it wasn't her boyfriend, she immediately grabbed her cell phone to record the voices of three different men yelling and making racial comments.

“They started cussing (and then started) saying the N-word,” Laguidao said. "[The hackers were also] telling us, ‘Shut the F-up.’ And they were commenting on my body saying, 'Nice booty' and saying, 'Oh, nice laptop.' That's when I knew they were looking at me."

Laguidao, who said she has been living in a fear for a while, was tired of hearing the hackers voices so she unplugged the camera.

But the nightmare was not over just yet.

“I heard them (hackers) talking through the outside camera, too,” said Laguidao. “And so I ran and unplugged that one."

Laguidao said she reached out to the Auburn Police Department to let them know what's going on.

“They told us that because of the racial slurs, they're taking it into action and finding the hacker,” Laguidao said.

KIRO 7 reached out to Nest and they released the following statement:

"Nest was not breached. These recent reports are based on customers using compromised passwords (exposed through breaches on other websites). In nearly all cases, two-factor verification eliminates this type of the security risk. We take security in the home extremely seriously, and we're actively introducing features that will reject comprised passwords, allow customers to monitor access to their accounts and track external entities that abuse credentials."

“What I want Nest to do is own up and say that they have not been taking action in helping their customers,” said Laguidao.

Meantime, Laguidao sends this message to those hackers who caused harm to her family.

“You will, in time, learn your lesson and never ever do this again."

Cox Media Group