Script Kiddies, Criminals Hacking Video Streams for Fun & Profit

Video streams are being hijacked in vast quantities and the biggest reason for the intrusion is … fun. The good news for businesses is that their cameras tend not to be the primary targets. They are, instead, "warm up" targets used by hackers getting ready for the real thing — cameras from adult content websites, according to a new report.

Trend Micro's Forward-Looking Threat Research (FTR) Team says that most camera hacking is being done by "script kiddies" who are in it for fun and peer-group prestige. According to the report, "Information on exposed cameras or cameras with known passwords is widely shared on the 'Fun' sections of underground forums or in dedicated prank groups in certain social networks."

Serious criminals also use the activities of the script kiddies to mask their own attacks, "exposing the video streams of cameras or even exploiting these IoT devices for malicious activities such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, covert cryptocurrency mining, and even financial crimes."

For more, read here.