LONDON // Experts have a message for anyone with webcams, baby monitors and home security cameras – change your password now.
Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said a website based in Russia is posting live footage of homes and businesses after having used the default login credentials for thousands of cameras.
The ICO has called on Russia to take down the site and warned it was planning regulatory action.
The footage – collected from security cameras such as CCTVs and remote-access baby monitors – have been posted on the internet by the Russian site which takes advantage of camera users that leave default passwords such as “1234” unchanged, to get devices working. Many manufacturers also put default passwords online.
“I want the Russians to take this down straight away,” Christopher Graham, the information commissioner told BBC radio.
“We’ve known about this for about 24 hours but we’ve been working out how best to deal with it because we want to take regulatory action,” he said.
Britain is now planning “very prompt action” with the Federal Trade Commission, the US consumer protection agency, “to get this thing closed down”, he said.
Data watchdogs across the world have already drawn attention to the site, which is hacking 4,591 cameras in the US, 2,059 in France and 1,576 in the Netherlands.
“These devices are very handy if you want to check your child is ok and the shop’s alright but everyone else can access that too unless you set a strong password,” Mr Graham said.
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
