During the MWC17 show in Barcelona, internet security company Avast has discovered that around 22,000 baby monitors were able to be freely hacked. This is a worrying number, and one that certainly should make parents think twice about their own home internet security.

The test took part during day one of the MWC17 in Barcelona to demonstrate the dangers of the internet. It has been reported that there were roughly 500,000 other hackable devices including smart phones and tablets.

Vince Steckler, Avast’s chief executive said “If webcams are set to livestream for example, hackers or anyone can connect, making it easy for cybercriminals to spy on innocent Mobile World Congress trade show visitors, or oblivious school pupils, workers or citizens nearby.

He continues; “That in itself is a privacy minefield, although what is far more likely is the possibility of a cyber crook hijacking an insecure webcam, coffee machine or smart TV to turn it into a bot which, as part of a wider botnet, could be used in coordinated attacks on servers to take down major websites. In the future, we could also see cases where cyber criminals harvest personal data, including credit card information from unsuspected IoT users.”

The test was carried out using search engine Shodan to identify the unsuspecting devices. Avast carried out the study to promote their own internet security protection tools.