Are the Russians spying in your home?

[Tempus Fugit]

you only have to google "CgiStart?page" to get a list of cams

[pongo]

Nasty software can access them on PCs/Macs but many have a little light next to them

FYI: the light is potentially switchable independently of the camera irrespective of the OS.

 

It's consumer incompetence and ignorance.

You're right. But stuff should not be sold as easy or straightforward to use unless it actually is. And much of this web rubbish is sold as plug-and-go. Imagine your fridge or oven needed the password changing to something more secure or regular updates and reboots.

 

Fact is: most people don't need to install monitoring devices anyway. They are wasting money on electronic crap which will end up at the tip

[AcousticallyChallenged]

Well after looking at settings I've disabled remote assistance (had no idea it was 'on' by default) and changed the webcam as disabled under the device manager, is that enough to stop someone hacking in and looking at my ugly mug?

They could always enable it again...

Remote assistance? You need to actively be in it to allow connections. Remote Access Toolkits are what are often used though, they offer much more functionality and can be snuck in quite easily.

 

Pongo, I was under the impression that it was a hardware rather than software feature of the camera. When it's activated, the little ASIC turns the light on.

[pongo]

Pongo, I was under the impression that it was a hardware rather than software feature of the camera. When it's activated, the little ASIC turns the light on.

Firmware is code.