San Antonio cybersecurity expert exposes vulnerabilities in camera systems

Hundreds of cameras exposed on website

SAN ANTONIO – The cameras set up around your office or home could be making you vulnerable to being spied on by anyone around the world.

A San Antonio cybersecurity expert Red Thomas says while most security systems have been improved there are always vulnerabilities in any closed security camera system.

“Most webcams now come with secure protocols that kind of prevent that sort of thing from happening or they just don't respond to those sorts of a web crawl requests for more information,” Thomas said.

When you access your security system through the website look for the "http" or "https" on the web address and make sure you look for the lock icon next to the website bar.

If your website requires a password to have access to see your cameras then your system is likely secure. But if a hacker wants to hack into your system they can.

 “Frankly any security system is only as good as its weakest link which is usually the people,” he said. “And people are easy to fool. So it's not hard for someone to trick you into clicking on something that's bad or sending you a malicious payload and getting you to open it up and compromising your computer.

Thomas showed us a website that shows hundreds of open cameras from around the world, some of them from the San Antonio or South Texas region.

We could watch a private porch and driveway, a gate and the parking lot of a business. More alarming was the view of an office where a woman sat in front a computer doing transactions, exchanging money with clients.

KSAT’s Patty Santos was able to track down that office and made a call to the manager who said he was not aware that the cameras were unsecured. He said he had access to them via a log-in system and would need to contact his technology professional to ensure the cameras are closed.

Thomas says the best way to protect yourself is to create strong passwords, be careful what you click and contact a specialist if you think your computer has been compromised.

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