Points to check if there are hidden cameras in private lodgings and hotels Points to check if there are hidden cameras in hotels and rooms

As private lodging services such as renting rooms in local people's homes have increased, reports such as "a hidden camera was set in the room" are increasing. The possibility that cameras are installed in hotels and houses/rooms that you visit for the first time is not zero, and it is an interesting point. Therefore, Mr. Johans Ulrich of the SANS Internet Storm Center for the purpose of IT security education summarizes the points to find hidden cameras.

InfoSec Handlers Diary Blog - How to Find Hidden Cameras in your AirBNB

https://isc.sans.edu/diary/How+to+Find+Hidden+Cameras+in+your+AirBNB/24834

The first thing you should check when you enter a room is ``Is there anything in a strange place?'' Cameras often need to be powered. The first step is to carefully check if there is anything that is powered, even though it is not normally powered.

Devices where the camera is often hidden include the following:

・USB charger

・Digital clock

・Fire alarm

Ullrich says that USB chargers are a popular hiding place for cameras because they don't look suspicious even if they are plugged into an outlet. Also, in order to hide the lens well, the body is black instead of the white one like the iPhone charger. However, it is possible to check the camera lens if you look closely at the USB charger. It is also worth remembering that the main unit is often larger than a normal USB charger.

From top to bottom, a hidden camera that mimics a USB charger, an iPhone USB charger, and an iPad USB charger. You can see that the hidden camera imitating the USB charger is one size larger than the iPhone charger.

Looking at the USB port side, you can definitely see the camera lens.

Hidden cameras in digital clocks are hard to find, but if something looks suspicious, just unplug the cable and put it in your desk. On the other hand, hidden cameras installed in fire alarms are difficult to remove. In the case of fire alarms, first confirm that they are not installed in unnatural places. For example, fire alarms are often installed in bedrooms, but not in bathrooms. It is also necessary to be careful if there are multiple fire alarms in a particular room.

If you search for "hidden camera" on Amazon, you will find that not only are there charging cables, but there are also battery-operated ones. It is also important to check in advance what kind of hidden cameras exist.

Also, many hidden cameras are remotely controlled via Wi-Fi, so it's also a good idea to check your local network when you enter the room. Check for available networks and run a quick Nmap scan after connecting to the network provided by the host. At this time, if only harmless items such as routers, modems, smart TVs, printers can be found, there is no problem. On the other hand, if nothing is found or there are items that do not respond to the port of the above items, further investigation is required.

Check the public IP address you are using with "https://dshield.org/api/myip", run a port scan from the outside, find suspicious open ports, or use Shodan search There is also a way to use the engine to find out if Shodan has discovered cameras in the past.

by Min An

Points to also check if there is a list of connected devices if you have access to the router's admin console and if no other networks are offered. Home routers may have two SSIDs for guests and SSIDs for other purposes, and it seems that a more protected subnetwork may be used for hidden cameras.

More advanced techniques include the use of infrared cameras to examine objects that are hot, and the use of battery-powered cameras that react to motion and continuously provide fake motion.