A webcam normally used to check the waves and conditions at one of Sydney’s top surf spots has been hacked to instead zoom in on scantily clad bathers up and down the beach.
Women at Freshwater beach in Australia were unaware that their sunbathing antics were being monitored by the virtual infiltrator. The local Police have said the intrusion should be treated as a criminal offence.
Screenshots taken from the SURFit website which owns the camera show women lying on the sand totally unaware they were being monitored.
The images were sent to local paper the Manly Daily by a surfer who wished to remain anonymous.
The camera website allows users to check the surf conditions from a number of different cameras but the hacker had actually manipulated them so they could zoom and pan where they pleased.
A spokesperson from SURFit admitted the cameras had been hijacked and that someone had overridden the ‘command protocol’ for the Freshwater beach cam.
“That is the only way they would have been able to do that,” the spokesman said. “It is hard to know how they did it… even [if it was hacked] you only have the ability to send certain commands, all the commands are sent by someone saying move left, or right or up or down.”
The man who originally contacted the Manly Daily with the images was said to be worried about people’s privacy.
“I just don’t think it is right that someone uses a public service to perv on women, whoever it is should pay for what they have done,” he said.
Main Image: Adam.J.W.C
