Forgive me for the title of a new semi-regular look at what can happen in a smart home when things go wrong, or in this case someone abuses their login to surreptitiously spy on their ex wife.

In a recent UK case covered by the Telegraph (at the end of the article I will give some recommendations as to how to handle your smart home if something similar happens to you.

Jealous husband used wall-mounted iPad in his 'smart home' to spy on estranged wife, court hears 

Jealous husband used a wall-mounted iPad to spy on his estranged wife 

A jealous husband used a wall-mounted iPad that controls the heating and lights in his home to spy on his estranged wife a court has heard.

Electronics expert Ross Cairns, 35, monitored the movements and conversations of spouse Catherine by logging into a static device remotely using his mobile phone.

The wall-mounted iPad had been installed by the couple as part of a home automation system at their house allowing them to access lighting, central heating and the alarm system when not at home.

But after they split up and Cairns moved out, he used an app on his iPhone to log into an audio facility on the iPad so he could eavesdrop undetected as 33-year old accountant Mrs Cairns talked of their crumbling marriage.

On one occasion when Mrs Cairns told her mother she no longer loved her husband, the father of two suddenly turned up on the doorstep and repeated the conversation she had just had, saying: "Oh, you don't love me any more."

He also hacked into Mrs Cairns' accounts on Facebook and the dating app Bumble and sent an intimate picture and obscene messages to men she had been chatting with online.

The details of the incidents emerged as Ross Cairns was convicted of offences of stalking.

Manchester magistrates' court heard the the couple had been married for 16 years and had two daughters now aged five and three.

Mrs Cairns told the hearing: "He repeated the conversation that I had with my mum. He said 'oh, you don't love me any more'. I told him that I would ring the police. I rang his mum to come to get him."

Mrs Cairns switched off the camera facility on the iPad and brought in an IT engineer to change the password on the system so Cairns could no longer access it - but the court heard he still logged in remotely.

Whilst she was on holiday she found her Bumble account had been blocked due to "inappropriate content" and discovered an intimate photo had been posted on her profile.

Prosecutor Neil White said: "They lived in a 'smart house' with various aspects of the property connected by an iPad-like device, including the alarm, lighting and heating.

"He has been accessing the system when they were living separately and listened in on conversations. We submit that hacking into her phone to send messages, and listening in on conversations is stalking."

Cairns had denied wrongdoing, claiming he only accessed the home system to change the lights or adjust the volumes on the TV and not to view into the house. 

However, he was convicted of offences of stalking between August and November of last year and of using threatening behaviour towards his wife.

Cairns will be sentenced in June.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/10/smart-home-stalker-jealous-husband-used-wall-mounted-ipad-heating/

This was an Elan home automation system tied into a wall mounted iPad but most smart homes have similar systems.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, the owner of a smart home , and your partner is estranged, an ex or no longer welcome then these are some steps that you should take.

First - Change your password for you personal email address, that way any changes to systems or contact you have with others will be your information alone.

Next - Get in touch with the installation company who installed the system, ask to speak to the owner or a senior manager and explain the situation and ask them to send an engineer to come and change all the passwords, permissions, login codes etc... for all the systems.  If there is anything they are not responsible for then find the company responsible and do the same (for example the Alarm/CCTV company).  If you feel wary or harbour suspicion they are still talking to or getting your ex involved, engage another company or engineer directly.

Change all the passwords and login information for any services you use, music, movies, tv, everything.  Ring up your internet service provider (ISP) and ask them to come and reset or install a new modem/router with a new password and factory fresh settings - Your ex may have opened up ports and be able to dial into your home network from wherever they are,

Finally make sure that you contact the police if you think it necessary.