Russia has been spying on Nato military bases through civilian cameras connected to the internet, Dutch intelligence services said.
Kremlin-based hackers accessed the devices to monitor the transfer of military equipment to Ukraine, the AIVD domestic security and MIVD military intelligence agencies said.
Their joint investigation found the Russian operation had targeted cameras pointing towards military transport routes in the hope of identifying what weapons were being sent to Kyiv.
“Organisations with IP [internet protocol] cameras on these routes have now been warned so that they could take action,” the agencies warned after exposing what they described as a “large-scale Russian operation”.
They said it had targeted “European Nato member states, including the Netherlands, and Ukraine”.
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While the intelligence agencies did not specify the type of cameras hacked, the doorbell systems are frequently used by people to monitor their property from mobile phones. Hackers then use readily available apps to scan for devices that might be accessible.
Ukrainian hackers hijacked Russian surveillance cameras to assist on the attack on the Novorossiysk port – Reuters
The Dutch investigation found that many of the cameras were unsecured, and “often have standard passwords, outdated firmware and standard configurations”.
They said: “When the IP camera is identified, the malicious party can attempt to access the IP camera via the internet. This is often relatively easy, because many IP cameras connected to the internet are insufficiently secure.”
Hacking cameras has become commonplace in modern warfare in recent years. Almost any camera installed on a city street, outside a home or business can be used to gather intelligence.
