RE, Warning as British homes appear on Russian webcam 'spying' site - including childrens' bedrooms

Before everyone starts taking a lump hammer to their computers, you have to get a sense of proportion about things. This is an elective software problem, where you choose to install it and then fail to follow the instructions given, much as you did with the modem from your internet service provider.

You are supposed to set up the system then modify the factory set password to maintain security. How many have bothered to do this? I'm willing to bet that very, very few even know how to display the modem settings, let alone change them.

Then there is the settings of your PC itself and how it responds to 'pings'. A ping is a signal sent out to detect the presence of a computer, either deliberately, before sending a message, or maliciously, to see if there are any computers available. Don't think of it in terms of doing an hunt for a submarine, as it's more like a shout of 'hello'.

When you ping and get a reply, you know that there is something out there. Thus it is possible to detect computers on a network and identify them.

To stop this happening, you have to change the settings on your computer, so that no matter the numbers of 'hello' being shouted, it doesn't respond. Much as you teach a child to never speak to strangers.

WoolyWords