• Russian hackers can view you CCTV cameras!

 

 

BBC UK reported about a Russian-based website, which broadcasts CCTV footage’s from countries like the UK, USA, France, Sweden and many other countries around the globe. Hackers were using default passwords or sometimes no password to hack into home CCTV cameras. The site broadcasts over 4,500 cameras and most of the camera links are connected to the USA.

Cameras installed to monitor shops, homes and babies were broadcast via this Russian-based website to strangers, UK authorities are working together with Russian authorities to shut down this site. However, it is quite shocking to know that our CCTV cameras can be hacked.

How do I know that my CCTV camera is safe and how do I make sure my cameras at home is safe?

Most of the reported incidents were related to DIY CCTV cameras, as the manufactures are in competition with other manufacturers to produce user friendly cameras, they sometimes don’t follow all security protocols.

When you install a CCTV camera and connect it to the Internet (Network), always make sure you change the default user name and password. It is quite easy to guess default details for example user, admin, password, 12345 and etc.

When you create a password use characters, letters and symbols. Don’t use your date of birth or your name or obvious passwords such as admin, owner, 0000, home and etc.

Keep changing your password – you should change your password at a regular interval.

Don’t use the same password that you use for your other devices – if someone gets hold of that password, they can access your camera. You can use password organiser or make a list of your passwords and put it in an excel file and protect it, and email it to your main account.

Keep an eye on your logs – most of the modern day recorders give you the feature to check logs and this will reveal all visitors and logins to your system.

Unless it is required, don’t connect it to the internet.

When buying CCTV cameras, always check for the customer’s feedback and creditability of the supplier.