TRENDnet slapped with 20 years probation over webcam flaw

Are you paranoid and thinking maybe someone is watching you? Well, you may be right. The Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with US wireless webcam manufacturer TRENDnet. after a list of the IP addresses of over 700 TRENDnet customers was posted online, The FTC began its investigation.

A security patched was rushed out by TRENDnet, but the FTC felt it had failed in several of the most basic levels of secure software, and needed to be punished. The company will be subject to third party security audits for the next 20 years, plus two years of free technical support for its customers.

"The Internet of Things holds great promise for innovative consumer products and services," said FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez in a statement. "But consumer privacy and security must remain a priority as companies develop more devices that connect to the Internet."

The FTC found that TRENDnet had not taken reasonable step to ensure that its webcam products were secure. No security review of the original code base, nor any penetration testing were done before the code's release. It also noted that the login names and passwords of the IP webcams were transmitted and stored on PCs and mobile in plain text, making them easy to slurp.