Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/08/web_surveillance_cams_open_to_all/
Google exposes web surveillance cams
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Posted in Security, 8th January 2005 21:55 GMT
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Blogs and message forums buzzed this week with the discovery that a pair of simple Google searches permits access to well over 1,000 unprotected surveillance cameras around the world - apparently without their owners' knowledge.
Searching on certain strings within a URL sniffs out networked cameras that have Web interfaces permitting their owners to view them remotely, and even direct the cameras' motorized pan-and-tilt mechanisms from the comfort of their own desktop.
Video surfers are using this knowledge to peek in on office and restaurant interiors, a Japanese barnyard, women doing laundry, the interior of an Internet collocation facility, and a cage full of rodents, among other things, in locales scattered around the world.
News of the panoptical search queries apparently began on a community web forum, then spread [1] to the widely-read BoingBoing weblog Wednesday and Thursday.
In the past, geeks wanting to peek in on surveillance cams have driven around with receivers and special antenna rigs to pick up signals [2] from wireless cameras.
One of the Google search strings circulating summons a list of nearly 1,000 installed network cameras made by Swedish-based Axis Communications [3], the other turns up about 500 cameras sold by Panasonic [4]. Neither company could be reached after hours Friday.
According to their websites, both companies offer the ability to password-protect the Web interfaces to their cameras, and Axis has a feature that blocks access to webcams from all but approved Internet IP addresses. t's not apparent whether the security features are enabled by default. A FAQ on Panasonic's website includes a warning that their network cameras may not be right for "sensitive applications," and sports a broad disclaimer: "No specific claims are made pertaining to specific levels of security the camera offers."
Copyright © 2005, 
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Related stories
Meet the Peeping Tom worm [6]
Do webcams break when Tony Blair walks by? [7]
The Google attack engine [8]
Links
- http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/05/more_googleable_unse.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7931
- http://www.axis.com/products/video/camera/how.htm
- http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/gate/cameras.asp
- http://www.securityfocus.com/
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/23/peeping_tom_worm/
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/02/18/do_webcams_break_when_tony/
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/11/28/the_google_attack_engine/