4 Ways To Hack CCTV Cameras And How To Prevent

If you are interested in how hackers hack CCTV cameras, you have come to the right place. Keep reading because we won’t show you just 1 or 2 ways to hack these cameras, but 5 ways in total! Enjoy this in-depth guide on how to hack CCTV cameras, as it will cover everything about these useful tools. We are not going to talk about any specific monitoring system as most are scams and steal your information. You should be able to understand Hikvision better by the end of this article as well.

WARNING

This is a research article intended for cybersecurity experts. Publicly available databases were used during its preparation. Neither the Editorial Board nor the author can be held liable for unethical use of any information provided.

1. Hack Cameras Using Google Search Queries

If an IP camera is hacked, it does not mean that someone has seized control of the computer used by its operator. It simply means that the operator is not the only person viewing the video streamed by that camera. Such single targets are easy to hack. Even if there are some loopholes along the way.

Vulnerable security cameras can be located using Google or another search engine and sophisticated requests. For example:

Step 1: Go to the Google website 

https://www.google.com

Step 2: Enter any one of the following lines in the search result:

• Inurl: view/index.shtml
• Inurl: view/view.shtml
• Live applet
• intitle:”live view” intitle: axis
• Intitle: live applet
• allintitle:”Network Camera”
• intitle: axis intitle:”video serve

2.  Hacking CCTV cameras with shodan

Shodan is a search engine service that shows all Internet devices around the world, including security CCTV cameras. It’s even more convenient to watch them with Shodan.

Initially, we can enter a simple request- netcam – and then start using more sophisticated ones: netcam city:Moscow, netcam country:RU, webcamxp geo:55.45,37.37, linux upnp avtech, etc.

To view camera device details, simply click on the link:

Here you will get all the important details like information showing the camera ip address port and services as well as banner which can be used to hack the camera.

The default password for most webcams is 123456. A quick Google search will show you a comprehensive list of almost every camera brand’s default password.

Hopefully, you will find the default passwords and be able to log into them effortlessly. The only way you can avoid hackers getting into your network is by changing the default passwords of all devices that access it through the Wifi router– which is improtant.

 3. Hack Cameras with Routersploit

The most important thing about Routersploit is that it is a hacking tool for routers. However, with a recent update to the software, there’s an option to hack cameras of certain models using exploits available on the internet. So it only makes sense that Routersploit has evolved into Camerasploit, so to speak.

So let’s start the hack. Make sure you know the IP address and device model of the camera you want to target. The first method is the perfect example of where you can get information. You can use this hack when the default passwords have been changed.

To install routersploit on your Kali Linux open a terminal and type the following commands, follow these steps:

git clone https://github.com/threat9/routersploit

cd routersploit

python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt

python3 rsf.py

With this, the routersploit module will start. Now once it has started, type the following in the Kali Linux terminal.

To start hacking the camera, we need to use the following commands:

use scanners/cameras/camera_scan

show options

set target xx.xx.xx.xx

Here xx.xx.xx.xx is the Ip address of the camera

Now to run the exploit scanner type:

run

As you can see, the tool will run several exploits and check if the device is vulnerable or not. If the device is vulnerable. You can hack the camera with the corresponding exploit.

It is not possible to create articles on each related exploit because they are too many exploits. But you can probably google that particular website and find the information you need.

4. Use websites that show hacked CCTV cameras

You don’t need to be a trained hacker to view CCTV camera feeds. All you have to do is search Google to find feeds for many different cameras connected to the Internet.

There are many websites that have lists of thousands of hacked cameras as well as public IP address assignments that are not strictly encrypted. So they are easy to access and use. (If you don’t know of any or are having trouble finding one we’ve included the ones we love ourselves).

By manually searching for these IP addresses, viewers can access and view footage from various locations around the world – such as, airports, parking lots, stores and more.

• Insecam
• Opentopia
• Earthcam

This website is one of the many. You can find a huge list of cameras that are publically available. You can always find more websites on the internet. 

Preventive Measures

To protect CCTV cameras from hacking attempts, it is essential to implement preventive measures:

• Change default credentials: Always change the default usernames and passwords provided by the camera manufacturer to unique and strong credentials.
• Regularly update firmware: Keep the camera’s firmware up to date to ensure known vulnerabilities are patched.
• Use strong passwords: Employ complex passwords with a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
• Network segmentation and monitoring: Isolate the CCTV camera system from the main network and monitor network traffic for any suspicious activity.
• Employ encryption: Enable encryption protocols such as HTTPS or SSL to secure communication between the cameras and other devices.

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Prakash

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