A UK independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest- ICO has brought forth the risk of using weak passwords yet again. A new Russian website has launched that allows people to watch live footage from some of the insecure cameras across the world. The website, accesses the information by using the default login credentials, which are freely available online, for thousands of cameras.
“This site has been designed in order to show the importance of the security settings,” a notice said on the site, which was down at times Friday morning. The notice also proclaimed that the site was “fully legal.” The website said it had 4,591 video feeds from the United States and thousands of others from across the globe.
The website is reportedly collecting footage from several thousand Security cameras, both business and public, ranging from CCTV networks to cameras on baby monitors.
Simon Rice, Group manager for Technology at ICO stated –“We all need to be aware of the threats that exist to our personal information. If you don’t take basic steps (for securing our devices) as a matter of routine, then you’re leaving your information vulnerable and no one likes being watched by a stranger.”
ICO recommends making passwords more secure by using a mixture of upper and lowercase characters and numbers and disabling remote viewing settings or covering the lens as a last resort.
They suggest that one must secure all other devices as they may be prone to remote access as well. The plethora of information we now store on cloud is also potentially at risk. Using two- step authentication offers an additional layer of security for cloud services.
“The ICO is working with other global data protection and privacy authorities on collaborative action connected to the website showing unsecure webcam images, while advising people on the steps they can take to protect their information.”, said Simon.
Read more here.
(Image credit: Hannaford)
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