Electronic surveillance

Hackers can peek through surveillance cameras, report says

Tens of thousands of surveillance cameras are vulnerable to hackers, according to Bleeping Computer. Connected to the internet, the cameras have a flaw that a researcher in Argentina found anyone with a short line of code could exploit to log in.

The researcher first found the flaw in cameras made by Spanish camera maker TBK Vision, but next found that several other brands from around the globe appeared to be affected. Those included cameras sold by CeNova, Night Owl, Nova, Pulnix, Q-See and Securus. The flaw lets hackers receive a camera's username and password in plain text.

TBK Vision, Pulnix, Q-See and Securus didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. CeNova, Night Owl and Novo could not be reached for comment. The researcher, Ezequiel Fernandez, declined to speak with Bleeping Computer, but the publication showed the research to other security experts who said the hacking code could successfully access the login credentials for the cameras Fernandez identified. Fernandez didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from CNET.