London, Jun 20 (IANS): Webcams which are employed for multiple applications both at personal and organisational levels have turned into new cyber security threats, a new report said on Tuesday.

According to a report titled "Vulnerabilities in Foscam IP Cameras" by Finland-based cyber security firm F-Secure, multiple vulnerabilities are plaguing tens of thousands of web-connected cameras around the globe.

The researchers found a total of 18 vulnerabilities in these webcams, and stated that an attacker can view the video feed, control the camera operation and upload and download files from the built-in FTP server.

"Foscam-made IP cameras have multiple vulnerabilities that can lead to full device compromise," the report claimed.

"An unauthenticated attacker can persistently compromise these cameras by employing a number of different methods leading to full loss of confidentiality, integrity and availability, depending on the actions of the attacker," it added.

F-secure notified Foscam about the vulnerabilities but received no response.

According to F-secure, Foscam has allegedly a history of bugs allowing access to video feeds on IP cameras and baby monitors.