Kathrine Frich
Russian agents pulled the plug on their own security cameras
Modern surveillance keeps us safe, but it also creates an invisible net that anyone can slip into.
High-tech cameras watch our every move on the street. Yet the very tools built to protect powerful world leaders are now being turned against them.
Blind spots
A sudden wave of fear recently hit the highest levels of the Russian government. Secret services quickly scrambled to shut down a special video surveillance network used to protect Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.
According to the Financial Times cited by Digi24, the drastic move came after a stunning security breach in the Middle East. Israeli forces reportedly used hacked traffic cameras and artificial intelligence to track and assassinate Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a secret meeting in Tehran.
Terrified that the same thing could happen in Moscow, Russian agents pulled the plug on their own security cameras. Technicians only turned the system back on after completely cutting its connection to the internet.
Inside the grid
Still, the digital blackout may not be enough to stop foreign spies. An independent Ukrainian hacker told the Financial Times that cameras across the capital city are still working and are being hacked regularly.
Western intelligence agencies possess incredibly advanced tools to sift through this stolen footage. Artificial intelligence allows computers to analyze thousands of hours of video in seconds to spot specific human behaviors.
Matan Goldner, the boss of a tech startup called Conntour, explained the power of this new technology. “Simply put, for the first time in history we can communicate with computers, using language to discuss what they’re seeing,” Goldner noted to the newspaper.
Traps in the code
Security teams can now type simple text commands to track targets. They search for specific actions like two men passing a bag or a vehicle that was recently repainted.
An intelligence official from the Five Eyes alliance, which includes the United States and the United Kingdom, revealed how easy it is to exploit these state run systems.
“They install the cameras, and all we have to do is find a way to get in. And there will always be a way,” the official said.
Even the head of Russia’s FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, admitted the massive vulnerability at a recent meeting. Bortnikov stated that the coordinates of the Iranian victims were obtained through “backdoors” programmed directly into Tehran’s video systems.
Sources: Financial Times, Digi24
