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Holiday accommodation has its own catalogue of horror stories.
From hotels being cancelled upon arrival, to owners inviting themselves around for a spontaneous snack – all the way to creepy incidents where cameras have been disguised in household objects.
A former hacker turned to TikTok to teach his 1479,000 followers users about cybersecurity. In one of Marcus Hutchins’ (@malwaretech) most-watched clips, he offers invaluable information on how to detect if there are any hidden cameras at their rental.
Marcus explains: “The first thing you are going to want to look for is devices that are conveniently placed where a creeper would want to look.
“Take this fire alarm, for instance. It is placed right above the bed.
“One way to see if the device is a camera is to shine a bright light at it.
@malwaretech Reply to @safarijackza How to find hidden cameras in AirBnBs #safety #travel
“If you hit a camera lens, it’s going to get a blue-ish reflection.
“Now you can test this by shining a light at your phone and seeing how the camera looks when placed under a flashlight.”
The flashlight reveals a camera lens hidden in the fire alarm @malwaretech/TikTok
He then demonstrates how holidaygoers can check small, seemingly innocent items such as alarm clocks and USB chargers.
“This alarm clock is mirrored,” he said.“But if we shine a bright light at it, we can see through the glass and see there is a camera there.
“This technique can also work on two-way mirrors.”
The tiny lenses can be hidden in seemingly innocent items @malwaretech/TikTok
“These cameras are really small as you can see here, so they can be hidden in anything, even a hole in the wall,” he added.
The video, which racked up millions of views, was inundated with concerned comments. “New fear unlocked,” one said, while another joked, “Another reason to never leave my house haha.”
A third was curious as to why people hide cameras around the accommodation: “Can someone explain to me what the purpose is? Do they just want to watch the tenants living their lives? Sleeping? Eating? Changing? What’s the point!”
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