Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Security Blindspot

 Security Blindspot
type
FeatureClass
 Security Blindspot
label
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot
page
SecurityBlindspot
 Security Blindspot
comment
Almost as soon as video cameras were invented, their potential as a part of a security system has been realized. Many a show, book, or film will have people trying to outright disable the security system, including and especially the cameras. Sometimes by cutting them out altogether (though this has a tendency to raise alarms), other times by creating a loop and feeding the camera false information.
However, just as criminals and spies are always looking for ways to exploit or disable a security system, those who maintain and design such systems are always on the lookout for ways to improve them. Making the camera system impervious to outside hacking, for example, makes creating a video loop to fool the guards monitoring the feed impossible.
But sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best, and many a savvy spy or crook will know that the best way to beat a camera is to simply not be on it in the first place.
Thus come the camera blinds, areas where the cameras do not see, creating holes in the security system.
The existence of camera blinds is difficult to avoid, as most cameras are not omnidirectional with their view, and even those that can pan to see a wider field are blind in the direction they're not pointing at that moment.
Of course, a good detective or head of security will know that the use of camera blinds, which only the guards who maintain the system should be 100% aware of, could mean an inside job when a crime is committed or the system is breached.
Of course, some criminals just happen to be very skilled at researching cameras and knowing their effective range and scope.
This does not apply solely to cameras. Any hole or flaw in a security system that allows an intruder to go unnoticed will qualify, provided that it's deliberately exploited.
People who can exploit this trope tend to be Genre Savvy.
Very common in spy fiction, police procedurals, detective stories, and heist films.
In video games, a variation of Crosshair Aware is often in play. For the low-tech equivalent, see The Guards Must Be Crazy.
Compare Destroy the Security Camera. See also Swiss-Cheese Security.
 Security Blindspot
fetched
2023-11-30T05:01:26Z
 Security Blindspot
parsed
2023-11-30T05:01:26Z
 Security Blindspot
processingComment
Dropped link to CSICrimeSceneInvestigation: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Security Blindspot
processingComment
Dropped link to CastleTownDandelion: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Security Blindspot
processingComment
Dropped link to CruelTwistEnding: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Security Blindspot
processingUnknown
CastleTownDandelion
 Security Blindspot
processingUnknown
CSICrimeSceneInvestigation
 Security Blindspot
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Security Blindspot / int_109f7814
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_109f7814
comment
Sherlock: Invoked by Mycroft in "A Study in Pink", when he phones John and directs his attention to several cameras in security-conscious England, then deliberately has the cameras pan so that they're not looking at John. Basically sending the message, "I can do anything I want to you and no one will see." John, to his credit, tells Mycroft that it's a "clever trick" but that he could have just called him on his phone.
 Security Blindspot / int_109f7814
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_109f7814
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sherlock
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_109f7814
 Security Blindspot / int_1463a028
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_1463a028
comment
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: It's revealed that corrections officers at a New York prison have been exploiting holes in the security cameras to force themselves on female inmates, particularly and especially the blind spot that is the prison chapel, which has no coverage so that prisoners will feel comfortable offering confession.
 Security Blindspot / int_1463a028
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_1463a028
featureConfidence
1.0
 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_1463a028
 Security Blindspot / int_174feaf6
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_174feaf6
comment
In The Shape of Water, Elisa finds out that in the facility she works at, there's a narrow hallway where some of the workers go to smoke in (open) secret despite there being a security camera. Apparently, all they had to do was simply budge the camera, to which security turns a blind eye and they'd never get caught. This area gets used later by Elisa and her friends to exfiltrate the Asset while security assumes it's just another smoke break.
 Security Blindspot / int_174feaf6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_174feaf6
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Shape of Water
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_174feaf6
 Security Blindspot / int_2400518e
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_2400518e
comment
In Rainbow Six Siege, the attacking team has to create their own blindspots by shooting out cameras in the location they're infiltrating, as dead defenders can still help out their team by spectating.
 Security Blindspot / int_2400518e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_2400518e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Rainbow Six Siege (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_2400518e
 Security Blindspot / int_261c8d3f
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_261c8d3f
comment
The Simpsons: In "To Surveil, with Love", surveillance cameras are installed all over Springfield. Bart discovers that the only spot the cameras can't see is in the Simpsons' backyard, leading to him and Homer starting charging people to come there and do illegal activities.
 Security Blindspot / int_261c8d3f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_261c8d3f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Simpsons
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_261c8d3f
 Security Blindspot / int_3eacc2fd
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_3eacc2fd
comment
Corner Gas: Parodied in the episode "Security Cam". After Brent installs a security camera in the store, Karen goads Hank into trying to time the coverage of the camera in order to hide from view. Brent eventually tells Hank that the camera is stationary.
 Security Blindspot / int_3eacc2fd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_3eacc2fd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Corner Gas
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_3eacc2fd
 Security Blindspot / int_4ba244d3
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_4ba244d3
comment
Five Nights at Freddy's 3: The Hostile Animatronic Springtrap is intelligent enough to know what the field of vision on Fazbear's Fright's cameras are. Whenever possible, he'll try to conceal as much of his body off-camera as possible; combined with the cameras' poor quality and how dim the place is at night, he easily blends into the scenery, making figuring out where he is that much harder.
 Security Blindspot / int_4ba244d3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_4ba244d3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Five Nights at Freddy's 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_4ba244d3
 Security Blindspot / int_59151283
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_59151283
comment
Metal Gear has the player navigate the rooms while avoiding cameras, an easy task due to them having tunnel vision. This is optional, as it only sets off the alarm which sends enemies.
 Security Blindspot / int_59151283
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_59151283
featureConfidence
1.0
 Metal Gear (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_59151283
 Security Blindspot / int_5921531c
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_5921531c
comment
Persona 5: The Palace of Junya Kaneshiro, head of a local yakuza, is modeled after an immense bank, with security cameras abound. Some are fixed on one location, whilst others switch on and off based on a rotation. While cutting the power to a number of the cameras is required to advance, at times the player will need to use Thief's Eye to see where the camera is looking, and then avoid its line of sight.
 Security Blindspot / int_5921531c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_5921531c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Persona 5 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_5921531c
 Security Blindspot / int_5bb406f8
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_5bb406f8
comment
In The Expanse novel Tiamat's Wrath, La Résistance discovers the Laconian dreadnought occupying the Solar System has a blind spot in its sensor array and promptly plans an attack on that dreadnought using an antimatter core that was meant to power it.
 Security Blindspot / int_5bb406f8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_5bb406f8
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Expanse
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_5bb406f8
 Security Blindspot / int_5cd1aa89
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_5cd1aa89
comment
Nineteen Eighty-Four: When Winston writes in his diary, he does so in an alcove in his apartment which he believes is hidden from the surveillance of the telescreen.
 Security Blindspot / int_5cd1aa89
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_5cd1aa89
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nineteen Eighty-Four
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_5cd1aa89
 Security Blindspot / int_73d7930f
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_73d7930f
comment
In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Dax", Jadzia (the host of the Dax symbiont) is kidnapped from the titular space station by Klaestrons, who got the security sensor information from the Cardassians who had previously occupied the station. Luckily, the ship was stopped before it could escape.
 Security Blindspot / int_73d7930f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_73d7930f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_73d7930f
 Security Blindspot / int_80c999c0
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_80c999c0
comment
In The Invisible Man (2020), the protagonist uses this as part of her ploy to kill the titular character: She makes it appear that he slits his own throat on camera while wearing an invisibility suit, leaves the room and re-enters, screams in horror and calls 911 while sobbing, then slowly backs out of view of the camera. When out of view, she changes her expression to a satisfied smirk, and utters the word "Surprise."
 Security Blindspot / int_80c999c0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_80c999c0
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Invisible Man (2020)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_80c999c0
 Security Blindspot / int_87b652bb
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_87b652bb
comment
Starcraft II: Several of the game's stealth missions allow the player to see the vision radius of detectors, and either avoid their patrols, disable them with abilities, or teleport across gaps in their vision.
 Security Blindspot / int_87b652bb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_87b652bb
featureConfidence
1.0
 StarCraft II (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_87b652bb
 Security Blindspot / int_8ec33a88
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_8ec33a88
comment
Xenoblade Chronicles 3: The black fog obscures parts of the surveillance network Moebius has all over Aionios. Once Ouroboros figure this out, they use the fog as cover during some of their missions.
 Security Blindspot / int_8ec33a88
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_8ec33a88
featureConfidence
1.0
 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_8ec33a88
 Security Blindspot / int_96cff0c5
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_96cff0c5
comment
The World Is Not Enough: The first stage has James Bond infiltrating Lachaise's penthouse, the second floor which contains five cameras, but also conveniently-placed alcoves for players to control Bond to duck into and avoid detection (alternatively, just shoot away with Bond's Walther PP7). Finishing the level without being detected once will net a higher score.
 Security Blindspot / int_96cff0c5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_96cff0c5
featureConfidence
1.0
 The World Is Not Enough (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_96cff0c5
 Security Blindspot / int_994af351
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_994af351
comment
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: In "Rise From The Ashes", one of the witnesses manages to avoid being seen by the security camera in the evidence room when leaving due to knowing what its range of sight is.
 Security Blindspot / int_994af351
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_994af351
featureConfidence
1.0
 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_994af351
 Security Blindspot / int_a796bde8
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_a796bde8
comment
Metal Gear Solid includes surveillance cameras, which have a blind spot directly underneath the camera, and whose vision cone is shown on the radar. Alternatively, they can be destroyed by explosives, with later games allowing the use of first-person view to shoot cameras.
 Security Blindspot / int_a796bde8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_a796bde8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Metal Gear Solid (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_a796bde8
 Security Blindspot / int_b712435c
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_b712435c
comment
Leverage:
Season 3 begins with Nate going to prison, and subsequently finding someone for his team to help. Billy Epping didn't realize that crossing state lines with beer in his trunk was illegal, and was sentenced to a disproportionate sentence by a corrupt judge taking kickbacks from the even more corrupt warden. Epping was being targeted by gangs in the prison because he was found over the dead body of one of their members. Eliot notes that the body was found in a camera blind that only the prison guards should have known about. Nate and co. later exploit those same blinds to escape and make it look like Billy Epping had as well, only for the warden to have egg on his face when Epping is found safe in the prison with the other inmates. They also make it look like the warden took a bribe from Nate to let him go.
"The Inside Job", when the team has to retrieve Parker from Wakefield Agriculture, a building guarded by a dreaded Steranko security system, Nate says they need to find a way to get in without tripping the alarms. Eliot suggests that corporate bigwigs might not be willing to sacrifice their privacy, and Hardison quickly discovers that he's right, and directs him to a corner office that he can enter by using the window washing apparatus.
 Security Blindspot / int_b712435c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_b712435c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Leverage
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_b712435c
 Security Blindspot / int_bc11fda9
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_bc11fda9
comment
Deadly Rooms of Death: In The Second Sky, the Guardian of Nethlekempt Farrows forbids entry to A1 because his guards damaged the Living Walls with their swords, and forbids entry to Beethro because A1 could follow him inside. Beethro has to fool the Guardian by positioning A1 in his blind spot.
 Security Blindspot / int_bc11fda9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_bc11fda9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Deadly Rooms of Death (Video Game)
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_bc11fda9
 Security Blindspot / int_c0eadab8
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_c0eadab8
comment
In the second episode of Sonic X, Sonic infiltrates a government facility to rescue Cream, who's been captured and taken to be studied. The corridors have security cameras positioned every ten feet or so, constantly sweeping back and forth: Sonic is able to use his Super-Speed to dart from one blind spot to the next, and makes it through without being seen.
 Security Blindspot / int_c0eadab8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_c0eadab8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sonic X
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_c0eadab8
 Security Blindspot / int_c4fa53cb
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_c4fa53cb
comment
Jurassic Park: Hammond boasts about the level of coverage the island has with sensors and security cameras which he believes will let them know precisely where all the dinosaurs are at all times. Muldoon counters that the portions that are not covered by the camera and sensor network are continuous so the dinosaurs can freely move through them undetected. He's later proven right.
 Security Blindspot / int_c4fa53cb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_c4fa53cb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Jurassic Park
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_c4fa53cb
 Security Blindspot / int_e5c386a0
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_e5c386a0
comment
Ocean's 8: Mixed with Camera Spoofing, as the crew is able to hack the cameras beforehand and over time slowly shift their movement patterns to introduce blind spots where none previously existed without drawing alarm.
 Security Blindspot / int_e5c386a0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_e5c386a0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ocean's 8
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_e5c386a0
 Security Blindspot / int_edb68237
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_edb68237
comment
The Great Escape: Shortly after being transferred to Stalag Luft III, Captain Hilts observes the placement of the guard towers and realizes that they have a blind spot on a particular stretch of fence, and demonstrates it by hiding from them there. He then deliberately gets caught before the guards can realize his discovery, and is tossed in the cooler.
 Security Blindspot / int_edb68237
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_edb68237
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Great Escape
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_edb68237
 Security Blindspot / int_f0c816fb
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_f0c816fb
comment
Breaking Bad: Walt goes into a small cubbyhole in the superlab which is blocked from Gus' security camera by a small wall to manufacture the ricin he intends to kill Gus with. Jesse points out he didn't really need to take that risk (since Walt could've easily manufactured the ricin in his own home), but Walt likes the poetic irony of killing Gus with ricin made using the materials from Gus' own lab.
 Security Blindspot / int_f0c816fb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_f0c816fb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Breaking Bad
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_f0c816fb
 Security Blindspot / int_f3ef0f86
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_f3ef0f86
comment
Artemis Fowl: In the first book, Foley equips Mulch with a contact lens that lets him see the area the camera sees (visualized as yellow beams), as well as Camera Spoofing. The latter fails because Artemis and Butler are in continuous communication, and Butler not showing up on a camera is a pretty big hint that something's wrong.
 Security Blindspot / int_f3ef0f86
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_f3ef0f86
featureConfidence
1.0
 Artemis Fowl
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_f3ef0f86
 Security Blindspot / int_f4e799ee
type
Security Blindspot
 Security Blindspot / int_f4e799ee
comment
Burn Notice:
In "Scatter Point", in order for Michael to break into Carla's office, Sam observes the guard patrols and discovers that there's a point during shift change where there's only one guard outside, who has to get up and follow if anybody goes down the alley behind the building, leaving the front unguarded. Michael attempts to exploit this but is interrupted by the Client of the Week plot; when he tries again, he finds that Carla's people spotted him on his previous attempt and have decamped.
"Seek and Destroy": Michael breaks into art dealer Scott Chandler's office in hopes of finding evidence linking him to the murder of his business partner. Since Chandler still thinks Michael is on his side, Sam has access to the store's security cameras and is able to guide Michael to the office through their blind spots over their cell phones—though he once nearly accidentally gets Michael seen by mixing up his right and his left.
 Security Blindspot / int_f4e799ee
featureApplicability
1.0
 Security Blindspot / int_f4e799ee
featureConfidence
1.0
 Burn Notice
hasFeature
Security Blindspot / int_f4e799ee

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Security Blindspot
processingCategory2
Espionage Tropes
 Sonic X / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 The Great Escape / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 The Shape of Water / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 Artemis Fowl / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 Nineteen Eighty-Four / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 The Expanse / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 Insecurity System
processingUnknown
Security Blindspot
 CSI / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 Deadly Rooms of Death (Video Game) / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 Metal Gear (Video Game) / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 Metal Gear Solid (Video Game) / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 Rainbow Six Siege (Video Game) / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 StarCraft II (Video Game) / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 The World Is Not Enough (Video Game)
processingUnknown
Security Blindspot
 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Video Game) / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot
 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Visual Novel) / int_e6515b32
type
Security Blindspot