How hackers use your computer to watch you at home, post your photos online

Footage from cameras linked into household computer networks is being streamed live on rogue websites, warn privacy watchdogs. This allows anyone to spy on families in their own homes in real time.A Russian site seen by the Mail shows scenes from hundreds of cameras covering living rooms, bedrooms, gardens and driveways of homes across Britain. […]

How hackers use your computer to watch you at home, post your photos online
How hackers use your computer to watch you at home, post your photos online

Footage from cameras linked into household computer networks is being streamed live on rogue websites, warn privacy watchdogs.
This allows anyone to spy on families in their own homes in real time.
A Russian site seen by the Mail shows scenes from hundreds of cameras covering living rooms, bedrooms, gardens and driveways of homes across Britain.
The site also shows footage from inside offices – including images of unsuspecting workers – high street shops, gyms, pubs, takeaway outlets and even a horse in a stable.
Among the most shocking images are those from baby monitors which show children sleeping in their cots at home. Another shows an elderly woman sitting in her living room in Wakefield.
The site also broadcasts from cameras showing women working out on a treadmill in a gym in Manchester, a man sitting on the sofa in his living room in Renfrew, Scotland, and views in bedrooms, gardens and conservatories in affluent properties across South East England.
As well as publishing live feeds of what happens in people’s homes, the site shows the exact location of the camera according to its longitude and latitude, and the post code of the property.
It is a potential goldmine for burglars wanting to break into a property which they know is unattended. The privacy alert comes from the country’s data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office.