- Default Passwords and Outdated Firmware makes your home camera a public livestream, report report warns
- Thousands of Exposed Webcams offering a front drive seat in private and business life
- A simple web browser is all it takes to look into 40,000 unsecured camera sherings
Thousands of internet -connected webcams intended to improve security and convenience now offer a window into private life and secure environments.
Research from Bitsight claims over 40,000 webcams around the world is publicly available online, often without their owner’s knowledge.
These include security cameras, baby screens, office monitoring systems and even devices inside hospitals and factories.
A growing digital threat, not a hypothetical
The study highlights how easily accessible these cameras are.
“No passwords. No protection. Just out there,” wrote João Cruz, head security researcher at Bitsight Trace, noting that it does not require elite hacking skills or expensive software. In many cases, all it takes is a web browser and a valid IP address.
“We first raised the alarm in 2023, and based on this latest study, the situation has not improved.”
Exposed recordings range from innocent scenes, such as bird performers, to far more sensitive views, such as home points, living feeds from living rooms, boards in office space and even operations within data centers.
Courtedly, disturbing conversations have arisen on the Dark Web Forums, where some users share methods for locating exposed cameras or even selling access to live feeds.
“This is not hypothetical: This is happening right now,” Cruz emphasized.
The United States leads with approx. 14,000 exposed cameras, followed by Japan, Austria, Czech Republic and South Korea. These are not isolated events, but part of a wider failure in how internet -connected cameras are implemented and controlled.
Bitsight’s team scanned for both HTTP and RTSP-based cameras, and the results suggest that these numbers can only scratch the surface.
Many of the exposed devices are the result of basic setup errors: Standard information, open Internet access and outdated firmware that leave systems vulnerable.
While suppliers and manufacturers need to improve the device’s safety, users also share the responsibility.
Choosing products monitored for cybersecurity can help, but users must also pair their camera setups with tools such as leading antivirus software and top-classified parental control solutions, which often include network monitoring to mark unusual access or unprotected devices.
Ultimately, private users always have to check settings for remote accessibility, change default passwords, update firmware regularly and especially for companies enforce firewall protection and require VPN access.
