Who's watching? An investigation on camera security

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW) -- On your computer, on your tablet and on your phone; cameras are so common. Most of us don't give cameras a second thought.

"Most people buy these nanny cameras, or home cameras to watch their dogs; or like me buy a front door camera, so they can see who's at their door when the bell rings," said cyber security expert Mark Baggett.

He says the devices used for protection might not be so safe. Wi-Fi makes keeping an eye on your home easier than ever, and sometimes easier for anyone to keep an eye on you. Just a few clicks can open up a window to your world.

"There are other websites that make it easy for finding, indexing and categorizing cameras that are running," Baggett said.

Cameras watching your home. No camera in your home, what about where you work? Anyone can access this camera in downtown Augusta, showing employees sitting at their desks, likely unaware anyone could be watching.

And then there's what happened to Jeanette Hernandez's teenage daughter. "She was reading and she looked over and said, "Mom, did you turn on the webcam?" Hernandez said.

Her daughter was doing homework on the computer when something popped up. "And she said mom I was just reading and it took a picture of me! So we all jumped up and we were like wow," Hernandez said.

They received a picture taken of her daughter from the web camera, along with a note from a stranger demanding money to unlock the computer.

"I took my battery out and put it back in. Nothing. I turned it off, I couldn't do anything. It just kept popping up," Hernandez said.

"It doesn't even have to be that you're going to a sketchy website or clicking on a sketchy link. There's advertising banners in legitimate websites like newspapers or magazines that are used as malicious payloads," Baggett said.

Hernandez demonstrated just how easily it can be done. Within minutes, he was able to hack a tablet's camera and and see everything the camera catches.

Affiliate WRDW found hundreds of "How to Hack" videos online. Like one where the hacker says: "I'm going show you how to hack a webcam or the computer desktop of your victim." Smart phones can be hacked too.

"It's kind of scary that someone could control my computer and turn it on," Hernandez said.

There's not a fail safe way of making sure you're protected, but one way to lower the chances of being hacked on your security cameras is to change the password and username on any security cameras you have. The best thing you can do on your computer and tablets to keep you safe is to install antivirus software. Unfortunately, it's not that easy on your phones.

Obviously you should ignore those obvious spam websites or links you might find on Facebook or other sites, but they could be anywhere. If you're really concerned you can always just cover up your camera with tape.

Source: Who's watching? An investigation on camera security