A creepy website is streaming from 73,000 cameras; some in the bedroom

[Exterminator]

Content source

http://www.neowin.net/news/a-creepy-website-is-streaming-from-73000-cameras-some-in-the-bedroom

A strange looking website is letting anyone in the world stream from more than 73,000 IP cameras whose respective owners have not yet changed their default passwords. Whether or not this website is highlighting an important security problem as they are claiming to do, this appears to be a serious breach of privacy.

Insecam has access to more than 73,000 cameras all around the globe which includes more than 11,000 cameras in the United States, 6500 in Republic of Korea and almost 5000 in China. Even though the website states that it is trying to emphasize on an important security issue, it is clearly profiting from advertisements as well.

"Sometimes administrator (possible you too) forgets to change default password like 'admin:admin' or 'admin:12345' on security surveillance system, online camera or DVR. Such online cameras are available for all internet users. Here you can see thousands of such cameras located in a cafes, shops, malls, industrial objects and bedrooms of all countries of the world. To browse cameras just select the country or camera type.

This site has been designed in order to show the importance of the security settings. To remove your public camera from this site and make it private the only thing you need to do is to change your camera password."

Just a click on the place you want to stream, and you'll easily have access to it, these places do not only include parking lots and stores but also living rooms and bedrooms which means that any person, anywhere in the world, can spy on you just because you forgot (or didn't know) that you had to change your IP camera's default password.

 

[Raul90]

Right to privacy going down the drain there...I think they should be charged!

 

[Sasa]

And how to change the password?!

 

[Raul90]

Some links,

Using IP Cameras Safely
https://www.onguardonline.gov/articles/0382-using-ip-cameras-safely

How to reset IP Camera to factory defaults
http://www.tp-link.com/en/article/?faqid=231

 

[jamescv7]

Like a Big Brother (Television Series) level up edition. Haha

Anyway its a serious problem type that violates the privacy of a person, those cases are perhaps due to lack of supervise by an experience user to lockdown for maximum security.

 

[akshay1189]

I understand that this is technically wrong and creepy, but I just find it so hard to feel even a little bit sorry for people who are too ignorant to change the most basic settings of their digital devices. To think that people would forget to secure their SECURITY equipment. The irony is just too great.

 

[Solarquest]

I think that every owner should at least check and often change the settings/psw of his devices...but I think it's also incredible/a shame how manufacturer still sell devices with no or low security! They should sell devices already safe "out of the box"
Not every user has the knowledge /time to check, update, change firmware, settings etc.....

 

[Petrovic]

An odd site called Insecam purports to display 73,000 unsecured webcams from around the world, most of them CCTV and simple IP cameras. All of the cameras have two things in common – they’re streaming on publicly accessible network ports and they are still using the default passwords, thereby allowing anyone with a web-crawling robot and the wherewithal to type admin/admin to gain access to the stream.

The site breaks the cameras down by model and location and most of the cameras are standard IP-based cameras (or banks of cameras) made by major manufacturers like Foscam and Panasonic. These “unpatched” camera lists have been around for years but this is the first aggregator that gained worldwide attention after Motherboard brought it to the fore.

What will you see when you visit the site? Not much, I’m afraid. I believe worldwide attention has started to tear down the service and most of the feeds are dead. However, as NetworkWorld notesmany of the Foscam-branded cameras are being used as baby cams, a fact that should give parents pause. You can see some live cameras if you move away from the front page and start viewing cameras further afield but most streams are dead.


The creator, an anonymous admin who appears to be hosting the service in Russia, writes:

Sometimes administrator (possible you too) forgets to change default password like ‘admin:admin’ or ‘admin:12345′ on security surveillance system, online camera or DVR. Such online cameras are available for all internet users. Here you can see thousands of such cameras located in acafes, shops, malls, industrial objects and bedrooms of all countries of the world. To browse cameras just select the country or camera type.This site has been designed in order to show the importance of the security settings. To remove your public camera from this site and make it private the only thing you need to do is to change your camera password.

There is no reason for webcams to stream publicly with a weak password. While it may be easier for your IT person to set up your eight-way CCTV with the standard admin/12345 combination, it’s clear that anyone with a modicum of skill can and will take advantage of your largesse. It’s not computer crime when the data is out in the open and we shouldn’t welcome an invasion of privacy because we’re too lazy to read a manual.

 

[Raul90]

I understand that this is technically wrong and creepy, but I just find it so hard to feel even a little bit sorry for people who are too ignorant to change the most basic settings of their digital devices. To think that people would forget to secure their SECURITY equipment. The irony is just too great.

Yeah. That is the sad fact about this kind. People always learn the hard way and then try to get out of it. But then again to those who were affected..damage has been done already. So information and broadcasting it is crucial so people will know, will grasp and learn.

 

[Frans]

Found out that some people near my place have them available also. But i dont know them else i would warn them.