A family were left in considerable distress after hackers targeted their smart home devices and started messing with them.
Basically, this is a cautionary tale about what can happen if your home is connected and vulnerable. The hackers managed to turn the heating up, blast out rude songs and generally make the family's life a living hell.
Samantha Westmoreland and her husband Lamont had their Google Nest system hacked into by cyber criminals who then started by turning the heat in their house up to a sweltering 32°C.
After the family put the temperature down to a simple technical fault, a voice came out of the Nest system, which then started to play rude songs.
Incidentally, if you're not already aware, Nest systems are connected versions of things like doorbells, thermostats and smoke detectors within the home.
It's owned by Google and - we're told - it's the future. However, in this case it was turned against the owners by malicious outsiders.
Samantha, of Milwaukee in Wisconsin, told local TV station Fox 6: "It's supposed to make me feel safe, and I didn't feel safe. My heart was racing.
"I felt so violated at that point. It gives me the chills just talking about it."
Samantha said that her suspicions were first piqued when the house suddenly started to get really hot, really quickly.
Despite initially putting it down to a glitch, a terrifying voice soon started emitting from the camera, as well as some less-than-savoury music.
The hackers were in control by that point. Even when Samantha unplugged the camera, pointed it towards the ceiling, and changed the Nest system passwords, the problem didn't go away.
In the end, the Westmorelands had to get their internet service provider to change the network ID of their entire wireless network.
They now reckon the hackers gained access to the expensive Nest system after getting into their WiFi network.
Lamont said: "If someone hacks into your WiFi, they shouldn't be able to have access to those Nest devices without some sort of wall they have to get over.
"Maybe there's some steps we should take. I think Nest should be tightening security."
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Google has urged customers to set up additional security measures on Nest, such as two-factor verification, to prevent something similar happening to them.
A Google spokesperson told LADbible: "Nest was not breached. These 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 security risk.
"Nest users have the option to migrate to a Google Account, giving them access to additional tools and automatic security protections such as Suspicious activity detection, 2-Step Verification and Security Checkup. Millions of users have signed up for two-factor verification."
Featured Image Credit: Fox 6 NewsTopics: US News, Technology, Weird