Peek-A-Boo. I See YOU

In case you missed it, there is a breaking story today about a family who had a webcam as the baby monitor. A hacker was able to locate the camera (easy to do), but then was able to move the camera to see around the room, and then actually spoke to the child through the camera!

For the complete story, click [here]. 

Clearly this is disturbing for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that a criminal or predator now has the ability to “see behind closed doors” and know exactly what you are doing, when you are doing it, and with whom; and, with sight and sound.

The second very disturbing aspect of this story is that the hacker could have come in through the Internet connection (in which case, he could be anywhere in the world), or he could have come in through the wireless access point (in which case, he is out front right now).

In Cyber Security, there is a technique called “war driving” where basically you drive around a neighborhood looking for any wireless signal that is not secure. It is very easy to do and most smart phones do it automatically (amazingly enough).

And, just in case you think your WAP is just too obscure to be noticed, take a look at this website at wigle.net. This site contains maps of wireless access points with accompanying information. Go to the home page, click on Web Maps and then enter in a location.  Be prepared to be amazed.

Getting back to the webcam matter, while webcams are a neat tool not only for Skype-like communications and general security, unless you secure your webcam, you are only providing access to a well-organized enemy. Check out this story by Amar Toor on The Verge about “an interactive map of insecure webcam feeds”.

Now the best part is that nearly all phones, tablets, and laptops come with camera and microphone installed. Which means that no matter where you are or what you are doing, a committed hacker can find you and activate your camera and mic.

But wait, it gets worse. As we “discovered” only last week, Federal agencies are using hacking tools to locate potential terrorists. If that is true, is it possible they would even …[fill in the blank]?

Seriously, put some electrical tape over your webcam. And if you do need a baby monitor, lock it down!