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The Gadget Man – Are these really breached webcam and baby monitor’s or simply webcams that need a password?

There’s been lots in the news this morning about the the Russian website providing a directory of ‘open’ cameras on the web.

<< LISTEN HERE TO FIND OUT MORE

Samsung Galaxy S4 MiniTo be clear, this website is showing camera’s that DO NOT have any security applied to them. Lists of such camera’s have been widely available on the internet for a couple of years now. If you connect such a web based camera to the internet with no password, you are simply  producing a public web page that display video to the world.

I have looked myself and found that most of the cameras are set up to either monitor pets, property, businesses or in some cases children’s bedrooms. I suggest the monitoring of your childrens bedrooms should be taken very seriously indeed. If you are currently using a camera to monitor your child, you should ALWAYS ensure that there are very strong passwords applied to the camera (Strong passwords can be found here).

If you are in any doubt at all that your camera is not secure, switch it off and contact the supplier for information on how to do this.

As the site says, if you want to be removed from the site, just set your password!

I discuss this with Mark Murphy on BBC Radio Suffolk on 20th November 2014.