Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government • Hacker News Board

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#161

Post by verylittlemeat » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:30 PM UTC

aasasd wrote: post #103

elicash wrote: post #35

Anybody else afraid to click some of the links in that post until you hear about legality of accessing (and controlling!) a DEA camera that's likely part of an active investigation?

I'm having a chuckle from comments on Reddit: “It's an IPv4 address pointing directly to the camera, not so sure that there are any logs.” Wonder how many of the VPN-employing folks in fact use something like NordVPN and pay for it with their credit card.

I use nordvpn that I purchased with a credit card. Before using it I would get notices from my ISP for pirating but not anymore.

As far as I'm concerned it just makes me not the lowest hanging fruit and that's good enough for me. Even if they wouldn't cut off my service from those notices I consider it worth $50 a yearfor peace of mind. Plus it comes in handy for getting around some geo restrictions.

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#162

Post by [deleted] » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:37 PM UTC

baconomatic wrote: post #24

jjoonathan wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think people have internalized the fact that the US gov has surveillance drones in holding patterns over most US metropolitan areas. Every time I've seen someone poke around one of those persistence ADSB/radar maps, they have gone through the stages of discovery: "What are those circles?" "Surveillance drones." "Haha, no, really, what are they? Planes circling the airport?" "No, that (points to thin circle) i…

Have an example of this? Would be interesting to see it.

[deleted]

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#163

Post by aasasd » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:38 PM UTC

verylittlemeat wrote: post #161

aasasd wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm having a chuckle from comments on Reddit: “It's an IPv4 address pointing directly to the camera, not so sure that there are any logs.” Wonder how many of the VPN-employing folks in fact use something like NordVPN and pay for it with their credit card.

I use nordvpn that I purchased with a credit card. Before using it I would get notices from my ISP for pirating but not anymore. As far as I'm concerned it just makes me not the lowest hanging fruit and that's good enough for me. Even if they wouldn't cut off my service from those notices I consider it worth $50 a yearfor peace of mind. Plus it comes in handy for getting around some geo restrictions.

Case in point: thinking that any of this is relevant in a thread about people logging into government-setup cameras.

Btw, you might want to look into what came out of this story: https://medium.com/@derek./how-is-nordvpn-unblocking-disney-... — it's mostly guesswork but I'm not sure how a company buys 32 million residential ips otherwise.

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#164

Post by kfrzcode » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:41 PM UTC

MiroF wrote: post #123

the_pwner224 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a very big difference between a system that can localize gunshot sounds and surveillance drones. Assuming, of course, that the gunshot detectors are in fact special gunshot detectors and not a giant array of normal microphones with some algorithms applied to them.

> Assuming, of course, that the gunshot detectors are in fact special gunshot detectors and not a giant array of normal microphones with some algorithms applied to them. Why is your statement based at all on that assumption? I don't see what makes surveillance drones necessarily worse than human cops flying helicopters overhead with cameras (which I know for a fact occurs in my city). What makes the "drone" part prob…

I mean, a human in a helicopter is NOT the same as Gorgon Stare[0]. That's what's problematic, to me, anyhow.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon_Stare

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#165

Post by kfrzcode » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:42 PM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #36

ikeyany wrote: post #20

Where is the conspiracy? I thought the US government had been surveiling its cities via aerial technology. Is the conspiracy that these are unsecured?

Your comment isn't totally true in the narrow sense that it's not being done domestically by the USG specifically (at least at the time I was reading about it). The best book on the topic: https://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Sky-Secret-Gorgon-Stare/dp/05449... The primary domestic use was by the Baltimore police department and it was supplied by an individual billionaire interested in funding the project. Interesting fact in…

> comically

Synergy!

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#166

Post by EVdotIO » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:46 PM UTC

milesvp wrote: post #97

My personal experience with these types of camera is based on a conversation I had with a friend who’s a public defender in washington state. She said it can be nearly impossible to figure out who owns or put up all the random cameras you see at traffic intersections. Also good luck trying to subpoena the footage. And this is from someone who has greater access to government information than the typical citizen and h…

What about for parallel construction?

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#167

Post by [deleted] » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:50 PM UTC

bifrost wrote: post #159

darkengine wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking the same thing -- obscure its view with a few well-placed paintballs and see who shows up to clean it.

Be aware that firing a paintball gun in most major cities is a big nono.

[deleted]

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#168

Post by wolfgke » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:52 PM UTC

dvtrn wrote: post #145

y-c-o-m-b wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine these tactics will end well for anyone caught doing it. I don't recommend that.

Then don't get caught, oldest strategy in the clandestine operations handbook ;)

Make use of the situation that because of COVID-19, lots of people wear face masks (or, more precisely, mouth-nose masks).

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#169

Post by wolfgke » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:53 PM UTC

elicash wrote: post #35

Anybody else afraid to click some of the links in that post until you hear about legality of accessing (and controlling!) a DEA camera that's likely part of an active investigation?

> Anybody else afraid to click some of the links in that post until you hear about legality of accessing (and controlling!) a DEA camera that's likely part of an active investigation?

In Tor (or Tails), we trust.

Re: Redditor finds unsecured surveillance cameras seemingly placed by US government

#170

Post by EVdotIO » Wed, May 13, 2020, 10:57 PM UTC

dvtrn wrote: post #145

y-c-o-m-b wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine these tactics will end well for anyone caught doing it. I don't recommend that.

Then don't get caught, oldest strategy in the clandestine operations handbook ;)

I'm walking around in a balaclava everyday, and nobody bats an eye.