A U.S. maker of security cameras has acknowledged a flaw that allowed live feeds from its home security cameras to be accessed online without a password.

TRENDnet confirmed the security flaw in its SecurView Cameras bought after April 2010 and began to release firmware updates Monday to fix the problem, tech site The Register reported.

TRENDnet's home security cameras are often used by parents to monitor children's bedrooms and other sensitive locations, raising concerns they could be observed by anyone needing only the camera user's IP address and a sequence of 15 characters used by all the affected cameras.

The problem came to light after a montage of feeds from insecure Trendnet cameras was posted on an online forum in early January.

TRENDnet said it became aware of the problem on Jan. 12, and has been developing and testing firmware fixes to resolve the coding error, apparently introduced into the cameras two years ago, The Register reported.

Registered users have been informed by e-mail of the problem and remedy, TRENDnet said.