Password Protect Webcams!

A creepy search engine allows users to watch live videos of sleeping babies.

10:02 28 January 2016

Parents are being warned to password-protect their webcams after it was found that a creepy search engine allows users to view live videos of sleeping babies.

 

Web-connected security cameras are very popular these days and are being used to secure houses while owners are at the office or on holiday. They are also used as baby monitors by setting up the webcam up over a child’s cot. However, very few parents know that this device can also be hacked.

 

A creepy search engine called Shodan allows users to easily browse webcams that are not password-protected. It was set up in 2009 with the aim to expose vulnerabilities and insecurities in web-connected devices.

 

Security researcher Dan Tentler said: "It's all over the place. Practically everything you can think of."

 

“If Shodan can find your webcam, then so can anyone with even the most modest hacking skills, including anyone who knows how to use Shodan," added Paul Ducklin, cyber security expert at Sophos.

 

"Make sure that no services are visible across the open internet unless you are 100% sure that is what you want. And have proper passwords protecting any private data or devices, whether you're accessing them from inside or outside your own network."