An AI coal mine security camera network powered by plaintext passwords
Coal India, the world's largest coal producer, deployed an AI-powered security camera system across its mines that relied on plaintext passwords and unencrypted communications, leaving the network vulnerable to remote access and surveillance of sensitive mining operations.
Background
Coal India Limited (CIL) is the world's largest coal mining company, a state-owned Indian behemoth that produces about 80% of India's coal. The article describes how a security researcher discovered that CIL's AI-powered surveillance camera network — hundreds of cameras across multiple mines — was accessible online with factory-default or plaintext passwords, exposing live feeds of sensitive areas. The cameras are part of a "smart mining" push that uses computer vision for safety monitoring. The core implication: a massive critical-infrastructure operator deployed cutting-edge AI security systems with no basic cybersecurity hygiene, leaving operations visible to anyone who knows where to look.