My home computer broke a little after 5:00 p.m. one night. I called up the store where I bought it, trying to reach the service and repair department. Nobody answered the phone. Finally I spoke with someone in the computer department who assured me that people would be in the store until 9:00 p.m. to deal with my
broken computer. So I drove over there, lugged my computer downstairs to the repair department and - guess what? The place was empty.
The door was open and unlocked, the lights were on, thousands of dollars worth of broken appliances were lying around, and there were two of the store's terminals up and running. All I had to do was step behind the counter and I'd be able to see what made them tick. But surely someone was there? I yelled for assistance. I
rang the bell. I walked behind the counter and into the back areas of the shop. The place was absolutely devoid of life. And there were those two terminals there....
The only thing that stopped me from fooling around with them were the hidden security cam-eras I spotted. Now, as it turns out, I did some checking around the store until I managed to find a room that appeared to house the viewing monitors associated with the store's security cameras. Natu-rally no one was paying any
attention to them, so I went back downstairs, closed the door behind me, and had my way with those terminals. Even though the monitors were not being watched, it was good that I had seen those hidden security cameras. You, too, should be wary of such things when you attempt to hack on private property.
The correct terminology for security cameras is Closed-Circuit Television, or CCTV. Both black & white and color transmissions can be sent over pri-vately owned cables from distances of a few feet to hundreds of miles. Usually black & white is used, as it is less expensive and color is generally an un-needed feature. No
licensing is required for most private CCTV installations, so given the relative cheapness of the technology, such security meas-ures can be found in many settings.
The cameras employed may be either openly visible or hidden (as my department store cameras were). Another approach is to place an empty cam-era frame in an obvious location, while hiding an actual camera in an unusual spot. A trespasser will then cringe from the dummy camera, straight into view of the well-placed real camera. Dummy cam-eras may also be used to give a false sense of high-security, when in reality only a few, or maybe no security precautions are in place. If you see some cameras visibly panning back and forth, but one or two remaining stationary, it is likely those motionless ones are either broken or fake.
Many cameras, especially ones used out-of-doors, will be contained in some sort of housing. This housing may be a conventional metal box, or one more suited for covert surveillance. For example, cameras are often placed in housings made to resemble a light fixture, smoke detector, loudspeaker, or utility box. Cameras may
also be placed behind grillwork, pipes, or a one-way rnir-ror, or hung from the ceiling inside a translucent plastic dome. If you are trespassing you must be aware that hidden cameras exist, but you shouldn't necessarily try to seek them out. After all, you don't want to give a camera a full-frontal shot of your face and body. You're better off, when walking where you oughtn't, to walk tall and proud, but don't stare at the corners or ceilings of rooms. If a shape pro-trudes from a wall or ceiling, pay it no mind - it won't do you any good to stare.
Note that many surveillance systems are not all that great. Images picked up may be fuzzy, dark, full of shadows, and generally hard to see. Others, however, give perfect views of a point or an area within the camera's range. Concealing a camera may hinder its usefulness. Placing a concealing grillwork in front of a camera will result in a loss of detail in the images the camera picks up. Hidden cameras are more likely to be stationary and fo-cused on a single point, such as an entrance or exit, or a particular point in a hallway.
You often see cameras outside buildings, near rooftops or over doorways. These will be protected from the elements with suitable housings, sun-shields, fans, wipers, and/or defoggers. Outdoor cameras are often contained in a white or alurni-nurn housing with vents on the sides. If they are outside, they will have night viewing capabilities, and so you may be detected even before you enter the building. I remember walking across the lawn of a Johnson & Johnson building one rainy night, and as I got closer to the building, I looked up to see two guards with their faces pressed against the glass, staring at me.
If you absolutely must trespass a building or its property to get to its computers, try to go at night during a thunderstorm. Visibility will be poor, you can use your umbrella as a face-shield, and if you get chased away they will be reluctant to chase you very far.
