cctv

Shocking Photos Show China’s Historic Drought

From factories shutting off power to relics being exposed, a record-breaking drought and heat wave are hitting China hard.

Welp, Here Are Some Turkish Bears Caught on CCTV Taste-Testing Honey

A beekeeper in Turkey’s Black Sea-adjacent province of Trabzon, frustrated that local bears kept on stealing and consuming his precious honey, apparently set up a nighttime taste test for the purposes of determining which products the bears prefer, per numerous reports in Turkish media over the past week. The beekeeper in question, Ibrahim Sedef, had…

Nothing to See Here, Just Someone or Something With a TV for a Head Leaving TVs on Porches at Night

In the dead of night this weekend, someone or something left dozens of ageing TVs on the porches and lawns of Virginia homes. According to reports from CNN and WWBT, at least 60 different people in Glen Allen in Henrico County woke up on Aug. 11 to discover that old television sets had been left…

Texas Home CCTV Video Shows Woman in Broken Arm Restraints Ringing Doorbell in Dead of Night 

Montgomery County, Texas police are investigating an eerie incident captured on a home surveillance system in which an unknown, partially dressed woman in what appeared to be severed hand restraints rang local residential doorbells late at night. According to the BBC, the “apparently barefoot and semi-clothed” individual was picked up on home surveillance footage approaching…

Cops Catch Hackers Who Breached 65 Percent of DC’s Surveillance System

Back in January, police acknowledged that a mysterious hack had injected ransomware into Washington DC’s CCTV surveillance system. Now authorities have identified two Romanian suspects they say were responsible for hacking 123 of DC’s 187 surveillance cameras, as part of broader extortion plan. A criminal complaint against the two individuals was filed in court last…

An Artful Reminder That Surveillance Is Becoming Second Nature 

From far enough away, this installation by the Czech artistJakub Geltner almost looks like a flock of seagulls preening at the end of a jetty. Almost. The sculpture, called Nest 05, is the latest in a series by Geltner that treat the technological detritus of our urban landscape—from CCTV cameras to satellite dishes—as natural objects.…

Drug Cartel Hid a Secret Camera Surveillance System in a Mexican Town

CCTV and other security cameras are meant to stop crime, but an ingenious drug ring in a Mexican border town turned the lens back on the police, hiding an elaborate secret system of internet-controlled security cameras as a counter-surveillance program. The cameras were discovered and dismantled by police, according to a report from Motherboard. The…

Holy crap, watch this man narrowly escape getting hit by a train

This 77-year-old man from the Czech Republic has never been luckier. As he foolishly scurries across a train track, the man mis-times his walk and almost gets killed by a speeding train. The train comes so close to hitting him on the tracks that it actually does. His foot is clipped by the train and…

On the side of a building in Madrid, the Spanish artistSpYrecently installed 150 CCTV cameras with, in the artist’s words, “the intention of not watching over anything.” It kind of makes us long for the days when CCTV was the most threatening symbol of the surveillance state. [SpY; StreetArtNews]

Idiot Thief Robs CCTV Company, Is Immediately Caught With CCTV Footage

A life of small-time crime is difficult enough as it is; the pay’s not great, the cops are on your case, your conscience flares up. But one particularly dim bulb in Somerset, England made things even harder on himself by robbing a man who installs IT cameras for a living. Whoops! In the perp’s defense,…

Security Camera Paintings Are an Art Project for Big Brother

There are security cameras all over the place, and as we creep ever forward into a technological utopia distopia future, there are going to be even more, gazing at you from the street corners, in stores, and who knows where else. But all that footage doesn’t have to be pure surveillance; you can turn it…

Tons and Tons of Security Cameras Are Wide Open to Hackers

Apparently security cameras are even less secure than we thought. Eighteen popular brands of cameras have been found to have serious flaws in their own security, leaving at least 58,000 unsecured, open-to-basically-anyone security cams out there. Security firm Rapid7 discovered how the widespread flaw is after reading a blog post by someLuser, detailing the failings…

Could You Ever Be So Paranoid About Privacy That You’d Wear These Goofy Glasses?

It should come as no surprise that quite often, lurking in the shadows, a security camera is secretly leering at you. In stores, in banks, even on the street; and now they can recognize you too. Of course, there are ways to fight back, but unfortunately they include wearing these goofy-looking glasses. https://gizmodo.com/this-creepy-facial-recognition-system-knows-how-often-y-5959723 Designed by…

Watch This Man Win the $294 Million Powerball Jackpot

Watch one of the two winners of the $588 million Powerball jackpot last Wednesday. He looks at the numbers and goes “YES!”, then he shows it to the store clerks, as if he couldn’t believe his luck. The moment was captured by the store’s CCTV cameras. I always thought that, if this happened to me,…

Most Popular Surveillance Cameras Can Be Hacked

In a world where security cameras are nearly as ubiquitous as light fixtures, someone is always watching you. But the watcher might not always be who you think it is. Three of the most popular brands of closed-circuit surveillance cameras are sold with remote internet access enabled by default, and with weak password security –…

A Cop Chased Himself For 20 Minutes Because CCTV Confused Him With a Suspect

On a cold, dark night on the mean streets of the UK, an undercover police officer was radioed and informed that a potential suspect was close by. Keen to do the right thing, he set off in hot pursuit. Twenty fraught minutes later, he learned he’d been chasing… himself. The CCTV operator reported to police…

A TV That Knows When The Gun You’re Waving Around Is Causing a Panic

The London Riots caused so much havoc that they continue to spook British officials. So much so that they’re thinking of implementing so-called “Smart CCTV” that can track potential subjects and their behavior. Cue the requisite 1984/V for Vendetta comparisons. https://gizmodo.com/uk-riot-destruction-before-and-after-5829095 The way it works is it can recognize certain behavior and pinpoint where it…

China Enlists Cisco To Spy On the Public

500,000 cameras have been purchased by the Chinese government for installation in the Chongqing city over the coming three years, to keep an eye out for crime, but more importantly political activists. Or so human-rights warriors fret. Since the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, the US government has been strict about US companies selling their…

People under surveillance are more likely to condemn “bad behavior” in others

Social scientists have long known that people manage their reputations by modifying their behavior in public. But new research out of Australia now shows that this tendency to “act appropriately” extends beyond our actions and into our moral judgments. When people believe they are being watched, they become more judgmental of others’ behavior. Especially if…

The Moment a Russian Axeman Looked Into the ATM Camera’s Eyes

Apparently Russia has a slight problem with some crazy-skinhead running around town with an axe, hacking into ATMs. Evidence of his second destruction was caught on CCTV by the ATM, which sadly didn’t fare too well: Ouch. No word on whether he’s doing this to hack some rubles out for himself, or if he’s got…