'Creepiest website' on the internet lets people see through cameras all over the world
There are plenty of creepy sites on the internet, and ones that highlight how lax our online security is can give you sleepless nights.
One such website has been getting traction this week - it showcases the enormous range of camera feeds around the world that can be accessed without needing any password at all. And no, it's not because they've been hacked - they just haven't been properly secured.
The site is called Insecam.org, its name a clear pun on the idea of unsecured cameras, and it lets you do exactly what it says on the tin - you can browse a whole range of camera feeds by click on their thumbnails.
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These come from all around the world - you get to see each one's broad location before you click on it, and there are all sorts of different feeds.
Some are clearly scientific projects to monitor bird nests or wildlife, while others look more like they're commercial feeds keeping an eye on parking lots or storefronts.
Many of these feeds are quite slow to load, but you'll eventually get into a live view, and you can order them by most popular to see what other people think is interesting to check out.
Of course, some of these start to verge on creepy territory if they have a lot of people in them or look like they might be of a private setting.
The site says that anyone can get in touch with them to request the removal of a feed, and they'll comply if it's your camera - but it's still super unnerving to know that this sort of thing is even possible.
We are all told to set or change passwords on devices when we set them up, though, so this is a useful way to illustrate the risks if you fail to do so - while this website seems to have a more anthropological aim, it clearly shows what bad actors could access if they wanted to, with little to no effort.
The good news is that most home security cameras that you can now get from the likes of Ring and Blink come with encryption as standard, and many of them store your footage exclusively on local drives, to avoid any risk of their being hacked over the internet.
This means that it's more likely to be wobbly third-party cameras or older models that are easily accessed like this, rather than shiny new ones.