If you're a PC user with a webcam, or use a baby monitor system or have security cameras connected to your home network, it might be a good idea to shut off the monitoring devices, put black tape over the cameras and then change the passwords on the systems.
Why? Because a Russian website has been live-feeding thousands of web cams and such monitoring systems and broadcasting them to the world.
For users who don't change the default passwords on monitoring software, there's a good chance live feeds from their cameras are being broadcast before the world's eyes on the Russian site.
There are 152 countries on the site, each listing thousands of IP webcams that are shielded by weak passwords and cookie-cutter usernames.
The individuals behind the site claim they're attempting to point out a vulnerability in monitoring equipment to encourage people to use strong, unique passwords. But along with giving the world a voyeuristic peek into bedrooms and living rooms around the world, the site is leaving a massive amount of people open to burglaries and other property crimes.
"They know when you're leaving the house, and they know when there's no activity in the house for several days," said Ray Hutchins, president of Denver Cyber Security.
The site targets individuals who haven't changed the passwords on IP cameras. The site highlights thousands of cases in which users names and passwords are both "admin," but showing the world just how easy it is to peer into the living and work spaces of the unwitting users.
The individuals behind the site say they have set up an automated system that adds thousands of new camera feeds each month. So far, no one has stepped up to ask that their feeds be removed from the site, one of the people behind the controversial website told Vice.
"Only [the website] can prove the scale of the problem," the person said. "This problem was in darkness for many years."
Christopher Graham, the United Kingdom's information commissioner, says he wants the Russians to take down the website immediately. He says he's attempting to work with the United States' Federal Trade Comission, but owners of the webcams are in the best position to do something about the situation right now.
"The more important thing is to get the message out to consumers to take those security measures. If you don't need remote access to a webcam, then switch off that function altogether," Graham said.
U.K. privacy advocates have contacted the regulators in the U.S., Australia, Canada and Russia in an effort to get the site shuttered.
It's unclear if efforts to close down the insecam.cc site will pay off.
