This top security camera streaming app may have put thousands of users at risk
- Virtavo, a company that sells webcams and other security solutions, was found to have exposed user data
- Cybernews researchers found a large database full of PII unprotected
- The archive is now closed
Home security solutions provider Virtavo is accused of collecting and disclosing sensitive data about (potentially) hundreds of thousands of users.
Cybersecurity researchers from Cyber newsfound an exposed data server containing 3 GB of personal information and telemetry from iPhones. in the summer of 2023
All the information had one thing in common: it was generated from an app called Home V, which manages Virtavo security cameras. These cameras enable video streaming, playback, two-way communication, motion alerts and more.
Hundreds of thousands of users
The database contained people’s phone numbers, device IDs, IP addresses, firmware versions, and other device, network, and user information. The researchers said the data could be used to identify camera owners, which is particularly concerning. Furthermore, the data was updated in real time, which is the holy grail of data for all cybercriminals.
In total, the server contained more than 8.7 million records. Not all of them were unique and some identifiers appeared up to 50 times. This led researchers to speculate that at least 100,000 users were affected by the breach.
Most are in China, but there are plenty of users from other parts of the world as well.
“The detailed device IDs, IP addresses, user phone numbers, and other personal information can be misused by malicious actors for a variety of purposes, including targeted attacks, unauthorized access, identity theft, and surveillance,” the researchers said. “Real-time updates exacerbate the problem because it allows continuous collection of new data.”
The researchers reported their findings to both the company and the Chinese Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), after which the server was shut down. However, it remains unclear whether malicious actors have found it before.
Via Cyber news