Over 40,000 Internet-Connected Cameras Exposed, Streaming Live Online

Bitsight TRACE has uncovered more than 40,000 security cameras openly accessible on the internet—streaming live footage from homes, offices, factories, and even sensitive datacenter rooms.

This widespread exposure, which Bitsight first flagged in 2023, shows no sign of improvement, leaving millions potentially vulnerable to unwitting surveillance, industrial espionage, and privacy invasion by anyone with a web browser and basic technical know-how.

Technical Background and Methodology

Bitsight TRACE’s latest research scanned the entire internet for HTTP-based and RTSP-based camera feeds.

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the foundation of data communication for the web, while RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol) is used specifically for streaming media.

Both protocols are commonly supported by surveillance cameras for remote monitoring.

A simplified example of how such scanning is performed (using common command-line tools on Linux):

bash# Example: Scanning for open RTSP cameras using nmap
nmap -p 554 --script ...