The camera was cracked, and the video became a "package"? The industry chain behind the reporter's investigation——
Curious and twisted buyers and sellers
Recently, someone uploaded a surveillance video that was suspected to be obtained after cracking a camera in a public place, sparking discussions about the leaked images of public places and home cameras.
Can the camera really be hacked?
The reporter's investigation found that this black industry chain is hidden but rampant, and among the cracked cameras, hotels and homes are the "hardest hit areas".
chaos
Suspected cracked video has become a "package"
On January 17, netizens broke the news that some users uploaded surveillance videos suspected of cracking the cameras in public places on the Bilibili Danmuan website (station B).
Station B responded urgently that day, and removed and banned related videos and accounts.
However, at the same time, the demand for cracking the chain of cameras and curiosity and distortion on the Internet is still rampant.
"Hello, do you need it?" On January 18, the reporter just joined a chat group named "Camera i", and soon a group administrator named "Sparta" chatted privately.
This group was created on January 15, and it has 200 members in just 3 days.
On the day the reporter joined the group, new netizens continued to join the group.
"Would you like it, I'm not online every day." The group administrator said that he had a variety of cracked camera surveillance screen "packages" for sale.
These packages are "all high-quality products, not only sold after sale", with a minimum price of 298 yuan and a maximum price of 500 yuan.
Take the "Package A" of 298 yuan as an example, after purchase, you can get real-time live footage of 80 cameras, including 40 hotel cameras and 40 home cameras, all of which have been successfully cracked.
The "higher cost performance" is "Package C" - only 500 yuan, you can get 100 hotels and 60 households "live" pictures from cameras, and include a table sweeping software that can be operated by yourself.
In order to show "strength", "Sparta" sent a real-time screenshot of a cracked camera.
In the main screen, the "live broadcast" is a scene of a young man and a woman resting in a hotel room. The screen time is displayed at 9:53 am on January 18, 2022.
The text of the "real-time screen" below indicates that "337 videos have been stored".
The reporter's investigation found that it is not uncommon to sell cracked camera images and special cracked camera software, and a mature chain has been formed.
This black chain is often hidden in chat groups of some social software, and most of the group names contain keywords such as "discuss", "camera", "crack" and "hotel ID".
unannounced visit
You can buy cracked software for a few hundred yuan
In addition to selling ready-made cracking pictures, the crack sales chain in the hidden market can also spend hundreds of yuan to buy special cracking software.
The seller said that cameras in many public places, including hospitals, shopping malls, supermarkets, etc., can be cracked.
"Everyone can be cracked, no small talk." The seller "Struggle" cautiously stated that the sweeping software he sold will have a "tutorial" after payment.
And cameras that can be cracked by this software, in addition to being installed in hotels or homes, cameras in supermarkets, hospitals, shopping malls and other places can be successfully cracked.
The so-called "sweeping software", simply understood, is a software that uses program code to automatically scan and test the opening of the camera in batches after mastering the IP address of the camera on the public network.
Peng Gen, a network security research expert and general manager of Beijing Hanhua Feitian Xin'an Technology Co., Ltd., said that one of the reasons for the cracking of camera images in public places, hotels and homes is that there are loopholes in the security system of the camera itself, but more likely due to The criminals obtained the "IP library" of the camera through a third-party channel, and then "cracked the code set by the software, and kept trying to open it one by one."
"I have made a total of 11 orders today." The seller "Sparta" said that he has been engaged in the cracking camera industry for 5 years.
The sweeping software he sells is built by specialized technicians writing codes, and basically all cameras on the market can be cracked.
And it can crack not only the cameras of hotels and homes, but also the cameras of restaurants, supermarkets and other places. "Buy the software separately, with a minimum of 400 yuan. Each batch can crack 15 different cameras at the same time. It is a rolling rotation of different batches. of."
Not all cameras installed by others can be successfully cracked by software, and the cracked pictures are not necessarily what someone needs.
In this regard, after entering the cracking system, the page will also have corresponding prompts.
"Once the crack is successful, you can click the link that prompts success and you can watch it. If you don't like it, click another link to continue watching other places and other types of pictures." What's even scarier is that buyers can also freely set Hack the camera around or in a city, "It's very simple, you can set up your own 'search nearby' or other areas, and it's no problem to download the picture."
chain
Candid video or being resold for dissemination
The camera images that have been successfully cracked are often purchased after they flow out, satisfying the distorted psychology of some people.
Some netizens suspect that "it is very likely to attract people into that kind of paid group".
The reporter's investigation found that some sellers said that if they want to sell the cracked picture a second time, they need to greet them, establish contact, and "become an agent".
In the process of negotiating with the crack software seller, the reporter raised the question of whether the crack screen can be resold.
In this regard, the seller said, "Yes, it is equivalent to you becoming our agent." As for the price of the video screen after becoming an "agent", whether to give the other party a commission, how much the commission is, etc., the other party is not willing to answer.
The aforementioned seller "Sparta" said that the sweeping software can be used permanently after a one-time purchase of 400 yuan.
The "permanent use" method is that every month or every other period, he will help update the data of the cracked software.
He said that his account may also be blocked, so keep in touch and constantly change software data.
"90% of this sweeping software may be cracked using the 'weak password dictionary' method." Peng Gen analyzed that it is not difficult to develop similar sweeping software, mainly because it has the IP data required by the software or "weak passwords". password".
"The core is not the difficulty of software development, but a database. One way is to know which IP addresses are behind cameras, and the software will scan and crack them one by one; the other way is to crack passwords. A database of 'weak passwords'. For example, the code tries to unlock the camera's initial username and password. That way, it's easy to change or rewrite the code to crack the software."
support
Three ways to reduce leakage risks
What should I do if I find out about cracking software or camera footage?
How to minimize the risk of camera leaks in homes, hotels or public places?
The staff of the Illegal and Bad Information Reporting Center of the Central Cyberspace Administration of China (National Internet Information Office) said that to report bad information on the Internet, you can directly call the 12377 reporting line or log on to the official website "www.12377.cn".
When reporting, you need to provide screenshots of the chat records involved, the account number of the other party and other information.
Then, the center will transfer it to the relevant platform for processing, or to the local network information department, "strictly handle it according to laws and regulations."
The operator of the Beijing 110 alarm service desk said that if the person concerned finds that the camera footage related to him is leaked, it is recommended to call the police as soon as possible.
If there are relevant clues to report, the alarm service desk will notify the police station in the jurisdiction to contact the police station.
For reducing the risk of camera leakage, network security expert Peng Gen made three suggestions.
When buying a camera, pay attention to choosing the mainstream and well-known big brands in the market, and buy less small brands and knock-off products; the factory default password of the camera should be changed in time, and the password setting should be as complicated as possible; at the same time, when installing the camera, do not The IP address of the device is easily exposed on the public Internet.
Our reporter Li Songlin