Pay-Per-View Bomb Threats

Public webcams aren't something that most public institutions would consider a significant threat - they're typically in open spaces without sensitive data or activities in front of them. The Register's coverage of Ashton Lundeby and his fellow conspirators might make those organizations reconsider. The Register quotes the indictment, noting that "The conspirators created a 'channel' over which members of the conspiracy could broadcast their misdeeds to as many as three hundred (300) individuals simultaneously".

This moves swatting into the field of mass entertainment - the website advertising the videos was apparently set up to charge fees to view them. With caller ID spoofing and the sensitivity of public institutions to bomb threats, this may become a threat that we are all too familiar with.

For many sites, a simple search of common camera URLs will find Axis and other network cameras:

intitle:”AXIS” | inurl:view/view.shtml

A larger list of search URLs can be found here.

How would your organization handle a false bomb threat? Do you have publicly accessible web cameras? Do you know where they are? This may be yet another worthwhile Google alert search string to build.