skip to main content
10.1145/3564625.3564632acmotherconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagesacsacConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Are There Wireless Hidden Cameras Spying on Me?

Published: 05 December 2022 Publication History

Abstract

The proliferation of IoT devices has created risks of their abuse for unauthorized sensing/monitoring of our daily activities. Especially, the leakage of images taken by wireless spy cameras in sensitive spaces, such as hotel rooms, Airbnb rentals, public restrooms, and shower rooms, has become a serious privacy concern/threat. To mitigate/address this pressing concern, we propose a Spy Camera Finder (SCamF) that uses ubiquitous smartphones to detect and locate wireless spy cameras by analyzing encrypted Wi-Fi network traffic. Not only by characterizing the network traffic patterns of wireless cameras but also by reconstructing encoded video frame sizes from encrypted traffic, SCamF effectively determines the existence of wireless cameras on the Wi-Fi networks, and accurately verifies whether the thus-detected cameras are indeed recording users’ activities. SCamF also accurately locates spy cameras by analyzing reconstructed video frame sizes. We have implemented SCamF on Android smartphones and evaluated its performance on a real testbed across 20 types of wireless cameras. Our experimental results show SCamF to: (1) classify wireless cameras with an accuracy of 0.98; (2) detect spy cameras among the classified wireless cameras with a true positive rate (TPR) of 0.97; (3) incur low false positive rates (FPRs) of 0 and 0.031 for non-camera devices and cameras not recording the users’ activities, respectively; (4) locate spy cameras with centimeter-level distance errors.

References

[1]
Hervé Abdi. 2007. The Kendall rank correlation coefficient. Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA (2007), 508–510.
[2]
Inc. Activision Publishing. 2021. Call of Duty®: Mobile - Season 5: In Deep Water. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.activision.callofduty.shooter&hl=en_US&gl=ES.
[3]
Pablo Ameigeiras, Juan J Ramos-Munoz, Jorge Navarro-Ortiz, and Juan M Lopez-Soler. 2012. Analysis and modelling of YouTube traffic. Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies 23, 4(2012), 360–377.
[4]
Yushi Cheng, Xiaoyu Ji, Tianyang Lu, and Wenyuan Xu. 2018. DeWiCam: Detecting Hidden Wireless Cameras via Smartphones. In Proceedings of the 2018 on Asia Conference on Computer and Communications Security (Incheon, Republic of Korea) (ASIACCS ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/3196494.3196509
[5]
Yushi Cheng, Xiaoyu Ji, Tianyang Lu, and Wenyuan Xu. 2020. On Detecting Hidden Wireless Cameras: A Traffic Pattern-based Approach. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing 19, 4 (2020), 907–921. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMC.2019.2900919
[6]
CNN. 2019. Family finds hidden camera livestreaming from their Airbnb in Ireland. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/05/europe/ireland-airbnb-hidden-camera-scli-intl/index.html.
[7]
CNN. 2019. Hundreds of motel guests were secretly filmed and live-streamed online. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/20/asia/south-korea-hotel-spy-cam-intl/index.html.
[8]
Thomas Publishing Company. 2022. Spy Cameras Suppliers. https://www.thomasnet.com/products/spy-cameras-95965083-1.html.
[9]
Mauro Conti, Qian Qian Li, Alberto Maragno, and Riccardo Spolaor. 2018. The Dark Side(-Channel) of Mobile Devices: A Survey on Network Traffic Analysis. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 20, 4 (2018), 2658–2713. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2018.2843533
[10]
ALP Digitech. 2019. Spy hidden camera Detector. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/spy-hidden-camera-detector/id925967783#?platform=iphone.
[11]
Lucas Dixon, Thomas Ristenpart, and Thomas Shrimpton. 2016. Network Traffic Obfuscation and Automated Internet Censorship. IEEE Security & Privacy 14, 6 (2016), 43–53. https://doi.org/10.1109/MSP.2016.121
[12]
Kevin P. Dyer, Scott E. Coull, Thomas Ristenpart, and Thomas Shrimpton. 2012. Peek-a-Boo, I Still See You: Why Efficient Traffic Analysis Countermeasures Fail. In 2012 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, NY, USA, 332–346. https://doi.org/10.1109/SP.2012.28
[13]
europages. 2022. Manufacturer producer - spy cameras. https://www.europages.co.uk/companies/Manufacturer%20producer/spy%20cameras.html.
[14]
Raspberry Pi Foundation. 2022. Raspberry PI. https://www.raspberrypi.org/.
[15]
futureapps. 2022. Hidden Camera Detector. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hiddencamdetector.futureapps.com.hiddencamdetector&hl=en_US&gl=US.
[16]
Spy Gadgets. 2021. Spy Cameras. https://www.spygadgets.com/collections/spy-cameras.
[17]
Ltd. Hardkernel co.2022. ODROID. https://www.hardkernel.com/.
[18]
Yan He, Qiuye He, Song Fang, and Yao Liu. 2021. MotionCompass: Pinpointing Wireless Camera via Motion-Activated Traffic. In Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services (Virtual Event, Wisconsin) (MobiSys ’21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1145/3458864.3467683
[19]
Hajo Holzmann and Sebastian Vollmer. 2008. A likelihood ratio test for bimodality in two-component mixtures with application to regional income distribution in the EU. AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis 92, 1 (2008), 57–69.
[20]
Stephan Kleber, Lisa Maile, and Frank Kargl. 2019. Survey of Protocol Reverse Engineering Algorithms: Decomposition of Tools for Static Traffic Analysis. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 21, 1 (2019), 526–561. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2018.2867544
[21]
Tian Liu, Ziyu Liu, Jun Huang, Rui Tan, and Zhen Tan. 2018. Detecting Wireless Spy Cameras Via Stimulating and Probing. In Proceedings of the 16th Annual International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services(Munich, Germany) (MobiSys ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 243–255. https://doi.org/10.1145/3210240.3210332
[22]
Fannia Pacheco, Ernesto Exposito, Mathieu Gineste, Cedric Baudoin, and Jose Aguilar. 2019. Towards the Deployment of Machine Learning Solutions in Network Traffic Classification: A Systematic Survey. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 21, 2 (2019), 1988–2014. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2018.2883147
[23]
Zhaoqing Pan, Jianjun Lei, Yun Zhang, Xingming Sun, and Sam Kwong. 2016. Fast Motion Estimation Based on Content Property for Low-Complexity H.265/HEVC Encoder. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting 62, 3 (2016), 675–684. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBC.2016.2580920
[24]
PANGSKY. 2021. Battle Royale Fortress. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pang.ftrs.google.
[25]
Grzegorz Pastuszak and Andrzej Abramowski. 2016. Algorithm and Architecture Design of the H.265/HEVC Intra Encoder. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 26, 1(2016), 210–222. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSVT.2015.2428571
[26]
Ashish Patro, Srinivas Govindan, and Suman Banerjee. 2013. Observing Home Wireless Experience through WiFi APs. In Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing & Networking (Miami, Florida, USA) (MobiCom ’13). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 339–350. https://doi.org/10.1145/2500423.2500448
[27]
Changhua Pei, Zhi Wang, Youjian Zhao, Zihan Wang, Yuan Meng, Dan Pei, Yuanquan Peng, Wenliang Tang, and Xiaodong Qu. 2017. Why It Takes So Long to Connect to a WiFi Access Point. In IEEE INFOCOM 2017 - IEEE Conference on Computer Communications. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, NY, USA, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1109/INFOCOM.2017.8057164
[28]
Antônio J. Pinheiro, Paulo Freitas de Araujo-Filho, Jeandro de M. Bezerra, and Divanilson R. Campelo. 2021. Adaptive Packet Padding Approach for Smart Home Networks: A Tradeoff Between Privacy and Performance. IEEE Internet of Things Journal 8, 5 (2021), 3930–3938. https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2020.3025988
[29]
Shiva Raj Pokhrel and Carey Williamson. 2018. Modeling Compound TCP Over WiFi for IoT. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking 26, 2 (2018), 864–878. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNET.2018.2806352
[30]
The Washington Post. 2021. Does your Airbnb or hotel have a hidden camera? Experts share tips for protecting yourself.https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/airbnb-hidden-camera-tiktok/.
[31]
Atul Puri, Xuemin Chen, and Ajay Luthra. 2004. Video coding using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression standard. Signal Processing: Image Communication 19, 9 (2004), 793–849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.image.2004.06.003 Technologies enabling Movies on Internet, HD DVD, and DCinema.
[32]
Sriram Sami, Sean Rui Xiang Tan, Bangjie Sun, and Jun Han. 2021. LAPD: Hidden Spy Camera Detection Using Smartphone Time-of-Flight Sensors. In Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems (Coimbra, Portugal) (SenSys ’21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 288–301. https://doi.org/10.1145/3485730.3485941
[33]
Heiko Schwarz, Detlev Marpe, and Thomas Wiegand. 2007. Overview of the Scalable Video Coding Extension of the H.264/AVC Standard. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology 17, 9(2007), 1103–1120. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSVT.2007.905532
[34]
SpyAssociates.com Security. 2018. SPYFINDER PRO Hidden Spy Camera Detector. https://www.amazon.com/SPYFINDER-PRO-Hidden-Camera-Finder/dp/B07HVJ8VZR.
[35]
Charalambos Sergiou, Pavlos Antoniou, and Vasos Vassiliou. 2014. A Comprehensive Survey of Congestion Control Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 16, 4 (2014), 1839–1859. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2014.2320071
[36]
sherry. 2019. RF Signal Detection. https://amzn.to/2TQs1A1.
[37]
Akash Deep Singh, Luis Garcia, Joseph Noor, and Mani Srivastava. 2021. I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Sensing Me! A Framework to Detect, Identify, and Localize Clandestine Wireless Sensors. In 30th USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 21). USENIX Association, Berkeley, CA, USA, 1829–1846. https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity21/presentation/singh
[38]
Katty so. 2019. RF Spy Camera Detector. https://www.amazon.com/Camera-Detector-Hidden-Detecting-Tracker/dp/B07TKHYL16.
[39]
Birru Dereje Teshome. 2019. Spy Camera Epidemic in Korea: A Situational Analysis. Asian Journal of Sociological Research 2, 1 (2019), 1–13.
[40]
Geert Van der Auwera, Prasanth T. David, and Martin Reisslein. 2008. Traffic Characteristics of H.264/AVC Variable Bit Rate Video. IEEE Communications Magazine 46, 11 (2008), 164–174. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCOM.2008.4689260
[41]
Mathy Vanhoef, Célestin Matte, Mathieu Cunche, Leonardo S. Cardoso, and Frank Piessens. 2016. Why MAC Address Randomization is Not Enough: An Analysis of Wi-Fi Network Discovery Mechanisms. In Proceedings of the 11th on ACM Asia Conference on Computer and Communications Security (Xi’an, China) (ASIA CCS ’16). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 413–424. https://doi.org/10.1145/2897845.2897883
[42]
Y.-K. Wang, R. Even, T. Kristensen, and R. Jesup. 2011. RTP Payload Format for H.264 Video. In RFC 6184, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). RFC Editor, Wilmington, DE, USA, 1–101.
[43]
WPTV. 2022. Martin County mother says hidden cameras caused ’path of destruction’ for family. https://www.wptv.com/news/treasure-coast/region-martin-county/martin-county-mother-says-hidden-cameras-caused-path-of-destruction-for-family.
[44]
Jin Xie, Wei Hu, and Zhenghao Zhang. 2011. Revisiting Partial Packet Recovery in 802.11 Wireless LANs. In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services(Bethesda, Maryland, USA) (MobiSys ’11). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 281–292. https://doi.org/10.1145/1999995.2000022
[45]
Keyang Yu, Qi Li, Dong Chen, Mohammad Rahman, and Shiqiang Wang. 2021. PrivacyGuard: Enhancing Smart Home User Privacy. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (Co-Located with CPS-IoT Week 2021) (Nashville, TN, USA) (IPSN ’21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 62–76. https://doi.org/10.1145/3412382.3458257

Cited By

View all

Recommendations

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Other conferences
ACSAC '22: Proceedings of the 38th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference
December 2022
1021 pages
ISBN:9781450397599
DOI:10.1145/3564625
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 05 December 2022

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Check for updates

Author Tags

  1. Encrypted Traffic Analysis
  2. Hidden Camera
  3. Smartphone

Qualifiers

  • Research-article
  • Research
  • Refereed limited

Conference

ACSAC

Acceptance Rates

Overall Acceptance Rate 104 of 497 submissions, 21%

Contributors

Other Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

  • Downloads (Last 12 months)180
  • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)13
Reflects downloads up to 01 Jan 2025

Other Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all

View Options

Login options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

HTML Format

View this article in HTML Format.

HTML Format

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Share this Publication link

Share on social media