Ukraine’s intelligence service this week asked residents to remove any outdoor webcams that record or live-stream scenes from Ukraine, warning that Russia is exploiting these cameras to help guide calls. Attack their missiles in real time.
Ukraine’s intelligence service, known as the SBU, says it is primarily interested in “automatic video recording around residential and social buildings, roads and traffic, industrial and commercial facilities.” “.
Cybersecurity experts have warned for years that webcams, including security cameras for homes and businesses, are often vulnerable. Access to such footage, whether hacked or on a public live stream, could help Moscow pinpoint targets, the SBU said.
Ukraine largely banned the filming and distribution of footage of its armed forces shortly after the Russian invasion last year, citing concerns about the release of military information, including the locations of its armed forces. of the army.
It is not clear what motivated SBU public warning about street webcams more than a year later, but asked civilians to take them down as the Ukrainian capital has faced relentless missile attacks in recent weeks that have forced its air defenses to function. excessive movement.
The morning after one of the largest aerial attacks, the SBU arrested six Kyiv residents, who shared footage showing intercepted Russian missiles. US officials said May 16 The attack damaged the advanced US-made Patriot air defense system.
The footage may have revealed the location of Ukraine’s air defense systems, the SBU said, adding that “within a few minutes, these videos were propagated by various Telegram channels and the internet community of the country.” Russia collects”, including channels controlled by Russian intelligence.
Similar footage was also captured by webcams of “commercial organizations” in the area and posted to YouTube by other users, the SBU added, adding that it had blocked the operation of some of those cameras. .
Ukraine’s IT Army, a pro-Kiev hacker group, then launched a “orange bonus,” asks people to report vulnerable webcams across the country and promises to block them. The group said it received more than 300 messages about such cameras in two days.
Robert Lipovsky, principal threat intelligence researcher at ESET, a cybersecurity firm that has helped Ukraine analyze Russian cyberattacks, said the new request from the SBU is “completely warranted”. Many internet-connected devices, such as smart home hubs, lack adequate security safeguards, ESET discovered, but webcams can be particularly vulnerable. Mr. Lipovsky said that warnings about the security and privacy risks they pose would be relevant even in peacetime.
The US National Security Agency’s chief cybersecurity officer, Rob Joyce, warning in april that Russian hackers exploited coffee shop security cameras and other public webcams in Ukraine to gather intelligence on nearby aid convoys.
Monitoring such cameras is not even necessarily hacking. Many websites make it easy to access collections of unsecured video feeds from around the world, and platforms like YouTube often host cityscape live streams.
Live video streams brought some strategic value to Ukraine at the start of the war – webcams broadcast scenes from Kiev Independence Square and young people share daily life under aggression on TikTok Live played a novel role in drawing the world’s attention to Russia’s actions.
Cameras across the country have also captured atrocities by Russian forces, and the Ukrainian government has developed digital tools to allow civilians to easily record and submit evidence of war crimes. ONE New York Times investigation identified the Russian military unit behind the Bucha massacre based in part on Security camera footage along Yablunska Street, the quiet suburban street where the bodies of dozens of civilians were found.
However, military doctrine almost always pushes governments to try to control what information is recorded and shared in wartime, said Stéphane Duguin, Executive Director of the Electronic Peace Institute, which tracks military conflicts. Cybersecurity threat during war, said.
“If it is hyperlinked,” he added, “it creates risks.”
