If you’ve got any kind of surveillance camera installed in your home or around your property, you may want to make sure you changed the default password.
Dozens of websites have made it their mission to expose lapses in security by broadcasting the footage of your home, living room or driveway, for the world to see.
One of those websites is run by the Insecam project. The company brags that they are “the world’s biggest directory of online surveillance security cameras.” You can select a country or city to watch anything from streets, to rivers, parks, office buildings, beaches and even homes across the world.
The website will also give you the ISP address of the camera, instead of where it is physically located.
What you see on this website may give you the creeps, but is it simple surveillance or borderline voyeurism? On the site you can see everything from nanny cams, to baby cams, and pet cameras set up for people to check out their dogs while at work.
“Basically if you can log into it remotely and look at your camera, anyone else can,” said Ken Colburn, President/CEO of Data Doctors.
With everyone jumping on board the high-tech bandwagon, there are all kinds of fancy surveillance devices on the market. Everything from simple cameras, to fancy ones that even allow you to regulate your thermostat, lighting and monitor doorbells from outside.
“Anything you’re going to connect to the internet, you have to spend some time in the security section of the instructions,” Colburn said.
Colburn said the ease of use made people lazy when it came to reading the instructions, especially the security section.
“If you've got a webcam and you haven't secured it, there's a good chance somebody could hack in there and it's no longer private. You are on stage for the whole world,” Colburn said.
Those who buy security cameras may not think they’re inviting strangers into their home, but just like you lock your door, you need to lock your worldwide web portal. An unsecured password means an open window for the world to see what’s going on in your home.
"You're allowing somebody to peer into your life, most people don't realize that's happening,” Colburn said.
On the website, we found security cameras showing people’s living rooms, kitchens, pool areas and even the bedroom. Just on Insecam, there are more than 5,000 streams from the U.S. alone—73 of those streams were listed in Phoenix, with more in other Valley cities.
Colburn said the good news is there is a simple fix: when you first plug in your device and get to the set up menu, make sure you do not use the default factory password set up by the manufacturer.
“There are literally dozens of sites that list every single default password for every product out there, so it’s really easy for anyone to know what the default password for your device may be,” Colburn said.
Make the password your own. Colburn advised using a long catch phrase that was personal to you.
“The longer, the better. The hackers are not going to bother with trying different combinations if there are that many letters,” Colburn said.
ABC15 reached out to Insecam for a comment. They have not responded to our request for a statement yet, but information posted on the website states:
“Any private or unethical camera will be removed immediately upon e-mail complaint. Please provide a direct link to help facilitate the prompt removal of the camera.”
The website also advises you that you can remove your camera from the website yourself simply by resetting the password.
