'War Spies' Eavesdrop on Wireless Video

April 16 -- In this week's Cybershake, we take a look at how wireless video cameras are sparking a different kind of eavesdropping. Plus, we note a novel way to get rid of all those hard-to-remember computer passwords.

Wireless Eye Spies

Wireless technology has spawned a whole host of useful devices from cell phones to mobile computers that stay connected to the Net using radio waves. But it's also spawned a greater threat: clandestine electronic eavesdropping.

One of the latest concerns is over so-called war-spies — hobbyists who use inexpensive technology to pick up the video signals transmitted by wireless surveillance cameras. Since these video signals are typically not encrypted from prying eyes, war-spiers have free and untraceable access to whatever the cameras see.

And that, says Doug Honig of the American Civil Liberties Union, can lead to a very serious privacy problem.

"Just about everything you do out in public can be seen by somebody without you knowing it," says Honig.

Bill Traver had installed a wireless video surveillance system, hoping that it would add a layer of protection to his art gallery. But when he found that war-spies were picking up on his camera signals, "Well, it kind of makes us change maybe a little bit about the way we might think about how we use our camera for security purposes."

But not every wireless video user is aware of war-spying, nor is there a clear-cut answer to dealing with the problem.

Some legal experts say, for example, that snatching "open broadcasts" — say, from the wireless baby monitor being used by a neighbor — isn't illegal yet. Nor would it be clear if any antiwar-spying legislation could be enforceable since there's no way to trace who's receiving such broadcasts over publicly available wireless channels.

And protecting yourself from hidden but prying eyes isn't easy. There are handheld meters that can pick up hidden-camera signals. But unless you have ones of those devices, you'll just have to keep looking over your shoulder.