Many blogs and message forums are talking about the discovery that some simple Google searches permit access to over 1000 unprotected streaming surveillance cameras around the world, some apparently without their owner's knowledge.
Searching on certain strings within a URL finds networked surveillance cameras that have Web interfaces, permitting their owners to view them remotely, and even direct the cameras' motorized pan-and-tilt mechanisms from the comfort of their own desktop.
You can try the following search strings in Google:
inurl:"view/index.shtml"
inurl:"axis-cgi/mjpg"
inurl:"MultiCameraFrame?Mode="
inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode=%"
liveapplet
Some people have been creating pages with all the surveillance cams they found like this. Like
http://www.undertree.us/allcams.html
http://www.opentopia.com/hiddencam.php
Internet Explorer seems to have a problem with opening the links on these pages. But there is a solution. Right-click on the link and choose: “open in new window”. As soon as the new window opens, click the stop button of the internet explorer menubar quickly. Now you see the link in the address bar. Delete everything after the IP address, and press enter.
(found on BoingBoing)
4 comments:
whoa really! have you tried the links?
it looks as though they're intended for public viewing. i've tried viewing one but since i'm required to download some files i didn't go through with it.
I don't think they are really intended for public viewing. Some seem to be (like the panoramic views), but I think they are actually only meant to see by administrators or owners.
I've tried a few links, and I've seen images that I don't think are meant to be public. Some really seem to be surveillance cameras. If they weren't, the internet address would be different as well.
It's true that you sometimes need to install some files. But in some cases I could actually rotate the camera, zoom in and out and change the focus.
I saw classrooms (could even hear the sound in one classroom), reception desks at companies, cameras in stores, but there are also the boring panoramic images. I think I even found a camera in the office of the UK department of the company where I work.
http://128.186.37.214 : the classroom (US hours)
http://213.28.44.184 : one that you can control
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