Change the search to 'intitle: 'Live View / - AXIS 206M,'' though, and Google returns 3 pages of links to 206Ms that are online and viewable. For example, a standard Google search for 'Axis 206M' (a 1.3 megapixel IP camera by Axis) yields pages of spec sheets, manuals, and sites where the camera can be purchased. This means that remote viewing pages set up by the cameras are essentially open game to anyone who knows enough about search engines to find them. The central system monitoring the feeds might be secure, but often the cameras are not - either because they don't support passwords or because the user neglected to change the default one. As with anything else on the Internet, an immediate side effect is that online security becomes an issue the moment the connection goes active.

In either case, users need only load a simple browser-based applet (typically Flash, Java, or ActiveX) to view live or recorded video, control cameras, or check their settings. Ars Technica's Tom Connor explained the problem in 2011: Once an IP camera is installed and online, users can access it using its own individual internal or external IP address, or by connecting to its NVR (or both). Many are streamed over the Internet for the convenience of buyers. They offer major advantages over older technology, including the ability to record multiple feeds at the same time and at much higher resolution. What's going on here? IP cameras differ from closed-circuit television (CCTV) models because they stream footage directly onto a network without having to connect to a recording device or control network.

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