Former hacker reveals how to spot hidden cameras in hotel rooms

Hotels and Airbnbs have their own catalog of horror stories.

From cancellation of accommodation on arrival to owners inviting each other for a spontaneous snack – to frightening (and possibly illegal) incidents where cameras were found disguised in household items.

A former hacker turned to TikTok to educate his 117,000 subscribers about cybersecurity. In one of Marcus Hutchins’ films (@malwaretech) the most watched clips, he shows his fellow TikTokers how to detect if there are hidden cameras in their vacation accommodation.

Marcus explains, “The first thing you’re going to want to look for are devices that are ideally placed where a climbing plant would want to look.

“Take this fire alarm, for example. It is placed just above the bed.

“One way to tell if the device is a camera is to shine a bright light on it.

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“If you hit the lens of a camera, you’ll get a bluish sheen.

“Now you can test that by lighting up your phone and seeing what the camera looks like when placed under a flashlight. “

He then shows how people can check small, seemingly innocent items for cameras like alarm clocks and USB chargers.

“This clock is mirrored,” he said, “but if we shine a bright light on it, we can see through the glass and see there’s a camera there.

“This technique can also work on one-way mirrors. “

“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 has racked up 5.5 million views, has been inundated with worried comments. “A new fear has unblocked,” one said, while another joked, “Another reason to never leave my house, haha.”

A third was curious as to why people were hiding cameras around the accommodation: “Can someone explain to me what the point is? Do they just want to watch tenants go about their lives? Sleeping? To eat? Changing? What’s the point!”