{"id":1017,"date":"2020-08-26T22:03:24","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osintme.com\/?p=1017"},"modified":"2020-08-26T22:03:26","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:03:26","slug":"the-smart-privacy-invasions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osintme.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/26\/the-smart-privacy-invasions\/","title":{"rendered":"The “smart” privacy invasions"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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We have become so immune to news of data breaches and violations of privacy that barely anybody is able to keep up with the most recent scandals. And yet, we are the ones who invite this kind of trouble and bring it to our doorstep. Literally.<\/span><\/p>

The last decade brought an explosion of popularity of IoT devices (Internet of Things). <\/span><\/p>

IoT devices are mainly items of convenience and serve the purpose of home automation \u2013examples are remotely operated lights, heating systems, smart media and various security systems.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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And while turning your house into a digital command centre may be an appealing idea, there is one very important consideration, which is often left unanswered \u2013 with all these devices around, what happens to the privacy of our home?<\/span><\/p>

Take for example the popular home CCTV systems. Most of them operate online on the 24\/7 basis and can be controlled from your smartphone. <\/span><\/p>

The big problem is that the majority of webcams used by these security systems have absolutely no security layer and literally sit there connected to the Internet open to the whole world. <\/span><\/p>

The most popular database for such devices is Shodan<\/a>, a website that indexes gadgets like webcams, wireless printers and other smart devices.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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There are many ways to find open webcams on Shodan \u2013 the easiest one is searching the name of the webcam’s manufacturer or a webcam server. <\/span><\/p>

You are guaranteed to find hundreds of these, spread all over the world. The next step is the attempt to gain access to such devices. <\/span><\/p>

It can be done without too much effort \u2013 and people do it all the time, by resorting to such primitive methods of hacking as typing in default username and password for the security camera software. This information can be easily obtained online, with a little bit of specific search effort.<\/span><\/p>

Know that any time you are watching your home through security cameras, so are other people, based anywhere around the world \u2013 Shodan is a popular website with a list of IoT devices in the millions.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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SMART TV SURVEILLANCE\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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While security cameras normally show the exterior of the house, there is another source of privacy violation inside it \u2013 specifically in your sitting room.<\/span><\/p>

Smart TVs track their users on a massive scale, which not many people realise. And the best part is that it\u2019s all on their privacy policies, that nobody ever reads.<\/span><\/p>

The scope of these privacy violations can vary depending on the TV manufacturer. <\/span><\/p>

These companies have realised long ago that selling smart TV sets is only one way to make money \u2013 a more lucrative way is to gather user data, process it and sell it to TV networks and online content platforms. <\/span><\/p>

Take a look at some examples:<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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