[i_are_smart]

These attacks are showing that's it's trivial to achieve remote-code-execution on many of these devices. So in a way, yes, they do have self-destruct built in.

Simple connect to one, and then overwrite the boot partition. Or rm -rf /. Or even just use the firewall to block all inbound and outbound connections (an IP camera isn't very useful if you can't view the feed).

[Shank]

The scarier thought to me is that this many cameras installed in houses, businesses, bedrooms, etc. are being commandeered. That's a huge problem for privacy, let alone being used as botnets on the side.

[i_are_smart]

You are correct. I know there are sites out there that even aggregate camera feeds, although the more ethical ones remove any feeds where there may be privacy concerns.

Frankly, I would NEVER install such a device in my house. The engineering on many is (almost?) criminally flawed.