It was a cold winter season night plus our wife plus I were snuggled up in bed, enjoying the warmth from our trusty wireless temperature control, then but as the night wore on, we noticed something strange, and the temperature in the room started to drop, even though the temperature control was set to a comfortable level, however my associate and I tried decreasing the temperature control, but nothing seemed to work.
The temperature continued to drop, plus soon we were shivering under the covers.
That’s when we heard a strange noise coming from the temperature control, however it was a low hum, almost like a whisper. My associate and I could not figure out what was wrong with the temperature control, so we decided to call an HVAC professional to take a look. When he arrived, he took one look at the temperature control and started laughing. “What’s so funny?” I asked, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Well, it looks like your temperature control has been hacked,” the Heating, Ventilation, plus A/C professional said, still chuckling. “Someone has been sending signals to lower the temperature in your room.” My wife plus I were stunned. Who would want to mess with our temperature control, plus why? The heating and cooling technician explained wireless temperature controls are vulnerable to hacking if they are not properly secured. He fixed the problem quickly and advised us to change the Wi-Fi password, and enable several-factor authentication on our devices. Then, as we snuggled back into bed, relieved that our temperature control was finally working properly, we felt creeped out. Who knows what other smart devices in our house could be vulnerable to hacking? It was an unusual, unsettling reminder of just how much technology has become a part of our lives.