Home webcams and unsecured security cameras have long been a favorite target of recreational hackers, pranksters, and voyeurs. With a few clicks, pretty much anyone can access a live video somewhere among the massive global network of unsecured cameras. You can even browse through directories listing open camera feeds, like Insecam.com. (There are, of course, less ethical directories, as well.)
Early last year, a pair of eastern European hackers were busted for taking partial control of two-thirds of the outdoor surveillance cameras in Washington, DC. The hackers demonstrated a peculiar kind of moxie by going after police cameras in America’s capital city. Their timing wasn’t great, though. Because the initial attack occurred just before President Trump’s inauguration, the incident drew the attention of U.S. Secret Service.
As you may be aware, Secret Service agents do not, as a rule, mess around. The culprits were quickly tracked down in London, arrested and put in the queue for extradition. The hack had nothing to do with the inauguration, it turns out, and was instead part of a larger ransomware plot.