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A Home Security Worker Hacked Into Surveillance Systems To Watch People Have Sex (gizmodo.com) 141

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: A former employee of prominent home security company ADT has admitted that he hacked into the surveillance feeds of dozens of customer homes, doing so primarily to spy on naked women or to leer at unsuspecting couples while they had sex. Telesforo Aviles, 35, pleaded guilty to a count of computer fraud in federal court this week, confessing that he inappropriately accessed the accounts of customers some 9,600 times over the course of several years. He is alleged to have done this to over 200 customers.

Authorities say that the IT technician "took note of which homes had attractive women, then repeatedly logged into these customers' accounts in order to view their footage for sexual gratification." He did this by adding his personal email address to customer accounts, which ultimately hooked him into "real-time access to the video feeds from their homes." Aviles, who now faces up to five years in prison, sometimes "claimed he needed to add himself temporarily in order to 'test' the system; in other instances, he added himself without their knowledge," officials said. "This defendant, entrusted with safeguarding customers' homes, instead intruded on their most intimate moments," acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah said in a statement. "We are glad to hold him accountable for this disgusting betrayal of trust."
The scandal has inspired multiple lawsuits -- three of which are ongoing. ADT tried using confidentiality agreements to keep some customers silent.

The company told BuzzFeed that it is "continuing to respond to the lawsuits and has resolved the concerns of most of the 220 impacted customers, including those who have retained attorneys to address the issue."
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A Home Security Worker Hacked Into Surveillance Systems To Watch People Have Sex

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  • Cameras Inside? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by unixcorn ( 120825 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @05:06PM (#60980296)

    I have cameras on the outside of my home and record each on a local server. However, I would never want a camera inside my home, not even in public areas. It just feels creepy. And in this case, it is.

    • Not just inside, but in your bedroom? WTF...
      • Not just inside, but in your bedroom? WTF...

        Kinky people sometimes have sex in the kitchen.

        So even do it in the laundry room. Didn't you ever play "Maytag repairman"?

        • by c-A-d ( 77980 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @06:23PM (#60980576)

          I would, but my Maytag washer and dryer combo never break down.

          • I would, but my Maytag washer and dryer combo never break down.

            Just switch it off at the wall. Leaves more time for the main part of the show and you can time the fix for just the seconds before the climax, which is obviously going to help with the repairman fetish.

        • by starless ( 60879 )

          Kinky people sometimes have sex in the kitchen.

          Isn't having sex in the kitchen fairly "vanilla"?

          (Well, except perhaps if you use actual vanilla, then it's not quite so "vanilla"....)

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Remind me not to come to your house for dinner.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by backslashdot ( 95548 )

      What about for home invasion? Outdoor cameras may not always capture enough details to catch a masked intruder. Inside a home the bungler's mannerisms and things like that can be analyzed. An estimated 3.7 million household burglaries occurred each year on average from 2003 to 2007. In about 28% of these burglaries, a household member was present during the burglary. In 7% of all household burglaries (260,000), a household member experienced some form of violent victimization -- assault, rape, or homicide.

      • by Sebby ( 238625 )

        What about for home invasion?

        I can see this as a valid case - especially if the customer's expectation was that:

        1. they would be the only ones with access to the videos (ie. password protected, encrypted, etc.) and
        2. recordings would only be available to 3rd parties via a subpoena/warrant.

        Clearly, 2) wasn't the case here; I don't know if the product/services was sold with 1) being a feature.

      • Re:Cameras Inside? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by aaarrrgggh ( 9205 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @05:53PM (#60980464)

        So, basically over the course of 30 years you have a 0.1% chance or less of being violently victimized in a household burglary, so you install cameras inside that watch you 24x7 in order to potentially catch an intruder via gate analysis?

        Sorry, but that has to be about the dumbest solution to a problem I can imagine... even dumber than having a gun in your bedside table unlocked.

        • So, basically over the course of 30 years you have a 0.1% chance or less of being violently victimized in a household burglary, so you install cameras inside that watch you 24x7 in order to potentially catch an intruder via gate analysis?

          Sorry, but that has to be about the dumbest solution to a problem I can imagine... even dumber than having a gun in your bedside table unlocked.

          A woman I worked with husband was one of those. Slept with a loaded 45, safety off, under his pillow. She said it did pretty much wreck their sex life. But his paranoia overrode his libido.

        • Re:Cameras Inside? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @06:25PM (#60980590)

          Most people are not competent to do risk management. This is just another example of sleazebags exploiting that by selling them "security" that does not work or makes things worse.

        • by swillden ( 191260 ) <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Friday January 22, 2021 @08:50PM (#60980964) Journal

          So, basically over the course of 30 years you have a 0.1% chance or less of being violently victimized in a household burglary, so you install cameras inside that watch you 24x7 in order to potentially catch an intruder via gait analysis?

          I do it so I can figure out which one of my kids finished the milk but didn't get another gallon from the fridge in the garage. And to have video of cool family events that might have gone uncaptured, as well as exciting moments like when one of my sons started a grease fire in the kitchen (I put that one on YouTube!). And to be able to check in on the house when I'm at home -- including to see if the stove was left on or similar. And... honestly, the uses are endless.

          But I don't have a camera in my bedroom. I have one in the living room/kitchen area, one in the baby's room (to act as a better baby monitor), one inside the garage and three outside the house, including the doorbell camera.

          As for anyone looking at me naked, I disclaim all liability for any damage they may suffer. You wanna look, fine, but the result is not my fault.

          • But I don't have a camera in my bedroom.

            Yeah but you don't need one. You can always have sex in the kitchen when the kids aren't home. (Even when the wife isn't home if that's your thing).

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        I question your numbers. Violent home invasions are exceptionally rare. Burglars hide or run when surprised. Most do not turn violent. At last that is the situration here (Europe).

        Got a reference?

        As to identifying a burglar via camera, that is the wrong approach and has no deterrence value. What you need to do is that somebody gets sent immediately when your perimeter is breached.

        • Burglars hide or run when surprised. Most do not turn violent. At last that is the situration here (Europe).

          In Europe burglars can be almost 100% sure of getting away if they can outrun the home owner and even if they get caught all that will happen is a relatively short period in jail. For this reason they actively avoid coming armed. In the states, especially with stand your ground laws and the castle doctrine, they can assume that if they don't disable the home occupier then there's a decent chance they will get shot. The calculus is completely different. Plus the number of known serial killers (look up the Z

          • Re:Cameras Inside? (Score:4, Insightful)

            by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @07:01PM (#60980744)

            So because many home-owners are armed, they get raped and killed? That sounds like an epic fail to me.

            • So because many home-owners are armed, they get raped and killed? That sounds like an epic fail to me.

              There is a question: "which came first the chicken or the egg". In Switzerland a higher proportion of home owners are armed than in the states and yet home owners getting raped and killed by burglars is just a non-issue. Also remember that, with of course massive variance in every direction and all sorts of specifics for other social and racial groups, statistically speaking it tends to be rich white home owners in nicer areas that are armed whilst it tends to be poor black renters in bad areas that are ge

              • by gweihir ( 88907 )

                Ah, no. In Switzerland, these weapons are assault rifles and they have to be locked up, unloaded, and the sealed emergency ammunition pack also has to be locked up. No way to get these to work in the short time you have when somebody invades your home.

                The argument carries for the amount of amok-runs, but not for "home defense".

            • Well rape aside, the killed scenario is definitely a case in America which we hear about over and over again. A home invasion is far more likely to end fatally in the USA than in many other western nations. An altercation with police as well and we hear the same justification "The poor police need to assume all suspects will pull a gun and start blasting at any second" Violence begets violence.

              You can see the sad difference here:
              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] where the list is separated and categorised b

              • by pnutjam ( 523990 )
                If they homeowner is also is armed, they probably want the camera so they can save those final moments with the loved one they gun down on accident.

                Statistically, that's more likely.
          • Burgling in Europe is 5 years in jail.
            Repeating it is up to 10 .. no idea what your brain dead reasoning is.

            • Burgling in Europe is 5 years in jail.
              Repeating it is up to 10 .. no idea what your brain dead reasoning is.

              There is no European wide criminal system so you can't just state that; even when sentences match what you just said, that's a maximum and normal sentences are lower. However, your third offence in many places in the US can lead to life imprisonment which is a "cruel and unusual" punishment and so illegal in Europe meaning that it doesn't happen anywhere. So whilst I'm not saying that sentences are weak; relative to US sentences they are more reasonable for most things in most countries.

              The life imprisonme

        • Teenage daughters sneaking into the house after breaking curfew because they don't want to get punished by their father is a scary thing! Those violent criminals need to be shot, especially by their own father!
        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          The US is an order of magnitude more violent than Europe. It's kind of a first world humanitarian disaster.

          • by cusco ( 717999 )

            Hell, we're an order of magnitude more violent than Canada.

            • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

              You can pretty much substitute any reasonably developed country in that sentence, and a good number of the less developed ones too.

      • So aa camera is recording that you got raped and homicided ... and what actually is the point?

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Well, fear is the mind-killer. At least now these people have a documented reason to fear cameras as well ;-)

    • by cusco ( 717999 )

      We have a couple of cameras inside our cottage, one points at the back window wall and the area under the skylights so that we can check if there's been damage while we're at home. Then there is one in the garage and the walk in closet, since we were renting it through Airbnb and those were supposed to be off-limits areas.

      I've worked in physical security for about 16 years now, and ADT has always been known as the crappiest of the security companies. They specialize in residential and retail installations

    • and is very lenient when that happens.
  • by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @05:09PM (#60980306)

    "This defendant, entrusted with safeguarding customers' homes, instead intruded on their most intimate moments,"

    Indeed.

    I always thought of companies like Facebook, Amazon, ClearView AI, etc. as "privacy rapists" given what they do with people's data without their knowledge - but this guy took it to a whole new level.

    • "This defendant, entrusted with safeguarding customers' homes, instead intruded on their most intimate moments,"

      Indeed.

      I always thought of companies like Facebook, Amazon, ClearView AI, etc. as "privacy rapists" given what they do with people's data without their knowledge - but this guy took it to a whole new level.

      What makes you think his level is any different from Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple's level?

      • by Sebby ( 238625 )

        What makes you think his level is any different from Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple's level?

        Well, the quote pretty much said it:

        "This defendant, entrusted with safeguarding customers' homes, instead intruded..."

        You typically hire a security company for, you know, [physical] security, which is what you expect from them.

        All those other tech companies, I don't expect that from them - yes, I do expect some data security from them, but it's definitively a different expectation than the one, single thing a security company is hired for.

        My main beef with tech companies is that they abuse the use of peop

    • by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @06:45PM (#60980666)

      What I find most striking is that this guy did it around 10'000 times before getting caught. Clearly there was absolutely nothing effective in place to catch or prevent this behavior and he got caught by accident.

    • Operators of the nude-body scanners used at airports were caught red-handed doing this sort of thing quite frequently when the scanners were new. We were promised that they were all professionals who wouldn't mishandle the data, and in fact they were unvetted randoms hired off the street who did this sort of thing with reckless abandon. In one famous case, nude scans of a famous actor were printed out by staff and circulated, with one actually approaching the actor and asking him to autograph it!

      I have no

  • ....wait till you see what Alexa has on you!!!
  • by OverlordQ ( 264228 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @05:12PM (#60980314) Journal

    ADT has zero internal auditing.

    • by cusco ( 717999 )

      Not a surprise, their installs are widely known as being among the worst in the industry. Can't make it as an installer at any reputable company? ADT has a job for you!

  • C'mon now. Who among us can honestly say they've never hacked into a camera security system for the purposes of watching others have sex... I mean, really...

    • The "post anonymously" checkbox is just above the "preview" button. Just sayin.

      • Whoooosh! ...

        Does Slashdot really need to add an "irony" or "sarcasm" button so people can mark their posts?

        • Meta Whoosh.

          Shirley you must have noticed when, along with the other regular slashcode updates, they put in the button for the tag </sarcasm>

        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          Apparently. I'm pretty sure the parent wasn't any more serious than the GP.

    • by cusco ( 717999 )

      Early in my career of physical security I was replacing the VCR recorders in the Seahawks stadium (yeah, they actually installed VCRs when they built the place) with DVRs. All but two of them were broken before I started, and at shift change one of the guards saw what I was up to and exclaimed, "Damn! Man, why weren't you here two weeks ago?" I asked why, and he said, "After the bars closed that Saturday some really hot chick and her boyfriend got into one of the parking garage stairwells and fucked like

      • If the cameras were installed during the same era as VCRs, the video was probably B&W 640x480. It would be as exciting as watching videos on a Game Boy.
    • I do wonder if it's a crime for the current ADT employees to watch. It was a former employee who hacked in. What about the current employees who don't need to hack to watch?
  • Once you put a bed facing camera or shower stall facing camera in your home and linked it to the internet, can one expect to have privacy? Can the company argue, there can be no expectation of privacy? May be the EULA has a clause buried somewhere?

    At least this guy seems to have not recorded them or posted them on porn sites. Or has he?

  • It seems like pointing the cameras at areas any intruder has to go through to get anywhere in the house would be much more useful, and most house layouts I have seen the bedroom and bathroom are of no use. Also if the intruder can see the camera feed, it might be nice for them to not know whether there is somebody in the bedroom, where they are, and whether they are reloading their gun or whatever.

    • Except a third of break-ins are through a window, maybe the thief never goes to another room? I'd say have coverage for whole house but only activate the bedrooms upon leaving. Easy to ensure that if you're rolling your home IP camera and secure server, whether a commercial product could be trusted welp... no I wouldn't trust 'em.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by cusco ( 717999 )

      The overhead for a security NVR is incredibly low. Ours is an old cast-off laptop shoved in a cabinet.

  • All those people with their LALS (loud afternoon lockdown sex) all over the city ruin my meditation.

  • An definitely not a camera. Actually, I do have one inside my house, but it's pointed outside.

  • The fundamental problem with security is that it requires trust of the people who are providing the service. Often the temptation is too great to take advantage of the situation.

    This could easily apply to government as well.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Indeed. Classical "who watches the watchers". That problem cannot be solved.

  • More likely it took this long for somebody stupid enough to get caught doing it. This is a rather obvious attack and the scenario has already been used countless times to explain the problem and also to ridicule the idea of home-surveillance.

  • the IT technician "took note of which homes had attractive women,

    So you are safe if you are ugly.

  • Adding your own email address to an access list is certainly sneaky and in this case illegal, but I wouldn't call it hacking. There was no coding or computer expertise involved.

  • Good thing I don’t have cameras in my bedroom. Or else I might be prosecuted for manslaughter because he would have died from boredom.

    • I'm guessing you're not an attractive female! Also guessing that your bedroom is your parents' basement! :_)
  • So having access to the system because ADT didn't have proper safeguards against insiders is considered 'hacking'? This seems like gross negligence on their part.
  • You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means....
  • ADT and Google Partner To Create Leading Smart Home Security Offering [globenewswire.com]
    August 3, 2020
    "ADT (NYSE: ADT), a leading provider of security and smart home solutions, and Google today announced they are entering into a long-term partnership to create the next generation of smart home security offerings. The partnership will combine Nest's award-winning hardware and services, powered by Google's machine learning technology, with ADT's installation, service and professional monitoring network to create a more helpfu

  • He did this by adding his personal email address to customer accounts, which ultimately hooked him into "real-time access to the video feeds from their homes."

    Aside from the obvious question as to why people are having sex in front of their security cameras, I find it pretty amazing that there were no safeguards in place to alert users that a new email had been added to their account. That's a pretty huge failure on ADT's part and really bad design.

  • I guess current employees wouldn't need to hack. They can just watch without hacking, since ADT probably says as part of their TOS that they own the video footage.

You will have many recoverable tape errors.

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