You may not have heard of Shodan, but Shodan users might be watching you. Whaaa???
Alarmingly, if you have a baby cam, webcam or any other type of internet based camera in the house you may find your camera is visible on this search engine so that anybody, anywhere in the world is able to access that camera and see into your home.
Shodan is a search engine for Internet connected devices, but it’s not just for cameras. The site boasts that security systems, lighting, Smart TV’s and refrigerators, are all searchable with their site. This search engine has a section of their website dedicated to unsecured webcams and allows users to browse through and access these by creating a free account on the website. For the parent geeks out there; Shodan works by searching the Internet for devices which use Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP port 554) which don’t have basic password protection.
Shodan is an extreme example of what can happen when new internet connected devices enter our lives, and we don’t bother to do something as simple as change the default password.
The good news is that if you have a password on your device, other than the standard default password that comes with the device, you’re already taking steps in the right direction.
