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IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

ipcrawl.com

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Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#171

Post by dorgo »

Jordan-117 wrote: post #87
halperter wrote: post #8

This website---naturally, I think---weirds me out. Many of these cameras are in private spaces, with some places you most certainly don't want people to have live feeds of. It's quite disturbing how you can see personal snapshots of people's lives without them knowing. There's a perverse feeling of dread about being able to see into someone's life and being able to paradoxically watch someone eat dinner alone, seemin…

I wonder how plausible it would be to deduce where a given webcam is (some combination of IP data, context clues, visible landmarks, maybe face searching) and then contact the owner to let them know. There used to be this fun site called where-is-this.com where people could share images of public places for others to try to track down; it would be nice to harness something like that for good.

>images of public places for others to try to track down

isn't this handled by AI nowdays? In my experiments (some time ago) AI was extremly good at it.

Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#172

Post by mmooss »

kube-system wrote: post #149
ryandrake wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then you’re tethered to the device manufacturer and probably need other Terrible UX like an account/credentials, password resets, and so on. And that tether also opens the door for the company to remote control the product, spy through telemetry, and remotely “alter the deal” at their whim. Some people might be ok with this but a “tether to the company” is a deal breaker to me for most products.

For most, “these cameras might livestream your bedroom to the open internet if you aren’t tech savvy” is a bigger dealbreaker. And “the product from XYC corp is controlled by XYZ corp” is not concerning, but what they expected. The idea of tech sovereignty for the sake of it is not an idea that resonates with many people outside of the tech community. Many people buy a product or service based solely on their immedia…

While I agree about the current state of things ...

> The idea of tech sovereignty for the sake of it is not an idea that resonates with many people outside of the tech community.

That's a failure of the tech community to educate the public, and accepting the idea that it 'just doesn't resonate' is a failure of responsibility and a condescending arrogance. The people in the public are intelligent and learn many things, such as literacy and sanitation.

> for the sake of it is

It's not for the sake of it, it's necessary for security and freedom, and it's a practical, simple solution to the problem of technically analyzing every product and every update to every product.

Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#173

Post by kube-system »

mmooss wrote: post #172
kube-system wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most, “these cameras might livestream your bedroom to the open internet if you aren’t tech savvy” is a bigger dealbreaker. And “the product from XYC corp is controlled by XYZ corp” is not concerning, but what they expected. The idea of tech sovereignty for the sake of it is not an idea that resonates with many people outside of the tech community. Many people buy a product or service based solely on their immedia…

While I agree about the current state of things ... > The idea of tech sovereignty for the sake of it is not an idea that resonates with many people outside of the tech community. That's a failure of the tech community to educate the public, and accepting the idea that it 'just doesn't resonate' is a failure of responsibility and a condescending arrogance. The people in the public are intelligent and learn many thing…

Self hosting is not necessary for security. If it were, B2B and B2G services wouldn’t exist.

It could be necessary for “freedom” depending on your definition, which is a political argument and not a technical one.

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to explain RMS’s opinions to anyone outside of tech before, but the primary disconnect is not an issue of education or literacy, but priority.

The primary reason people are not dissuaded by a services model is because they want a service.

Imagine you are reading a lawnmower enthusiast forum and everyone unanimously agrees that lawn services are immoral because they don’t let the homeowner own the mower or make adjustments to it. This is what this argument sounds like to many people. Many people just want their lawn cut, they don’t give a shit about the tool that accomplishes it.

Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#174

Post by alainx277 »

greatgib wrote: post #133

I might be wrong, but I have a very very big suspicion that this website is fake and probably a scam of some way. If you look at it, all "feeds" that are without any moving part or human are "live", and when there is anything that could have movements, then it is a "snapshot" that doesn't move. And then there is this very funny one that I'm quite sure is AI generated: https://ipcrawl.com/?page=2&cam=63f7feaf5042d223…

Yes, as someone else pointed out the snapshot cameras are just results from Shodan.

The "live" aspect is also questionable, as I can see broad daylight on a camera where in reality it's currently after sunset and pitch black.

If I had to guess I'd say that the project is obviously AI generated and the creator has probably not caught all the "workarounds" and "clever tricks" the vibe coding has produced...

Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#175

Post by mmooss »

kube-system wrote: post #173
mmooss wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree about the current state of things ... > The idea of tech sovereignty for the sake of it is not an idea that resonates with many people outside of the tech community. That's a failure of the tech community to educate the public, and accepting the idea that it 'just doesn't resonate' is a failure of responsibility and a condescending arrogance. The people in the public are intelligent and learn many thing…

Self hosting is not necessary for security. If it were, B2B and B2G services wouldn’t exist. It could be necessary for “freedom” depending on your definition, which is a political argument and not a technical one. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to explain RMS’s opinions to anyone outside of tech before, but the primary disconnect is not an issue of education or literacy, but priority. The primary reason people are…

> Self hosting is not necessary for security.

That moves the goalposts from 'tech sovereignty' to self-hosting.

The rest describes the tech community's failure to communicate its importance. Sanitation is also inconvenient, as is quitting smoking, wearing seatbelts, and forgoing lead where it might be eaten or breathed, but people are persuaded. We've failed so far, and it's even more embarassing to blame the circumstances.

Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#176

Post by [deleted] »

mmooss wrote: post #175
kube-system wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self hosting is not necessary for security. If it were, B2B and B2G services wouldn’t exist. It could be necessary for “freedom” depending on your definition, which is a political argument and not a technical one. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to explain RMS’s opinions to anyone outside of tech before, but the primary disconnect is not an issue of education or literacy, but priority. The primary reason people are…

> Self hosting is not necessary for security. That moves the goalposts from 'tech sovereignty' to self-hosting. The rest describes the tech community's failure to communicate its importance. Sanitation is also inconvenient, as is quitting smoking, wearing seatbelts, and forgoing lead where it might be eaten or breathed, but people are persuaded. We've failed so far, and it's even more embarassing to blame the circums…

[deleted]

Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#177

Post by hdgvhicv »

Symbiote wrote: post #161
hdgvhicv wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re saying f the camera will talk to the firewall using a username and password and open a hole/port forward?

I don't think the username as password is required. Open a Bittorrent client and it will try and port forward port 6881 using UPnP.

Which doesn’t matter about the password. If you have a faulty router which allows unauthorised inbound connections then you have a bigger problem than weak credentials

Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#178

Post by hdgvhicv »

wolvoleo wrote: post #162
hdgvhicv wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re saying f the camera will talk to the firewall using a username and password and open a hole/port forward?

No, I mean the cameras have these settings. Some cameras do also open ports with UPnP but it's rare in my experience. I think these cams are more users who are a bit technical but not too much to realise the implications.

Ok so aside from some malware running inside your security perimeter what’s the threat?

Yes weak passwords are bad, but if nobody can access it it’s not the end of the world.

Re: IP Crawl: Living atlas of open webcams discovered on the public internet

#180

Post by marysol5 »

ryandrake wrote: post #50
halperter wrote: post #8

This website---naturally, I think---weirds me out. Many of these cameras are in private spaces, with some places you most certainly don't want people to have live feeds of. It's quite disturbing how you can see personal snapshots of people's lives without them knowing. There's a perverse feeling of dread about being able to see into someone's life and being able to paradoxically watch someone eat dinner alone, seemin…

Every consumer tech company I’ve worked for had at least one guy who was a PM or a PM like role, who would say things like “InfoSec UX is confusing! Users don’t want to deal with IP addresses and firewalls and passwords and keys. We need to make the product easier to share by default!” This scenario seems to be what happens when anyone actually listens to That Guy. Sharing on the internet should be one of the hardest…

People do want simplicity though. Plug in the device, be able to access it.

So you either host some infrastructure it calls back into, so you get around things like NAT. Or you punch holes in the network.

The same users who want simplicity don't want the complexity of having to remember passwords either...

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