Stop your security camera from being hacked: change its default password

If you don’t want to be spied on by your own surveillance camera, you’d better change its default password. Otherwise it’s easy for a hacker to connect to it, view the video stream and even post images online. Dozens of homes and businesses in Belgium have already fallen victim to this intrusive hacking: pictures from their own surveillance cameras have been posted online, live, by a Russian website. Which is a golden opportunity for some ill-intentioned people – and a considerable intrusion into our privacy and private lives.

200 000 cameras vulnerable
According to a researcher from the security company Bitdefender, more than 200 000 IP cameras and smart doorbells are vulnerable to hacking, because they are protected by user names and passwords left on their default settings. Very often, combinations such as “user – user” or “guest – guest” are used.

Forewarned is forearmed...
Every device connected to your home network is a potential access point for hackers. Secure your camera, router and other connected peripherals by changing their default passwords for something much stronger – and updating them as and when it becomes necessary.