Passwords and online security of home CCTV systems

Passwords and online security for home CCTV systems (and commercial alike if you do not have an IT department) are always the common worries most owners have with CCTV cameras.

Most questions posed by owners will be answered here.

1. Are strangers able to view our home CCTV cameras remotely without using the password?

Answer: No, when we handover (test and commission a system) a procedure is done to ensure that only with a username and password can you be able to view the home CCTV camera feeds.

2. Can the system be hacked?

Answer: Yes. Any system in this world can be hacked if we put in huge amount of resources (such as the use of super computers). Even government systems can be hacked and manipulated by hackers. However, hackers follow their targets closely and dedicate huge amounts of time and resources understanding the usage patterns of the particular individual. Such amounts of effort can be seen in espionage attempts, but very rarely in home CCTV camera systems since there is no political and monetary benefits in funding an operation as such.

Our manufacturer do their best to ensure that all user information is kept confidential and passwords are protected against brute force attacks.

Users are always encouraged to change passwords and note their passwords regularly.

3. Can we view your CCTV cameras? Can we reset the password as and when?

Answer: No. We are unable to view your home CCTV cameras. We do not have access to the feeds as we do not store personal and password information of our customers. Home CCTV cameras are private proprietary.

We are also unable to reset the passwords by ourselves. Only the manufacturer's authorised dealers are able to do the reset of the password. As the procedure involves getting the passcode challenge and issuing the temporary password (which last for 24 hours), will you be able to issue the password.

There would hence be a need for us to retrieve the system physically and send it back to the manufacturer to have it reset. This process takes 4 working days to complete.

4. Why did the cameras at home get hacked in the past (as reported over the newspaper)?

Answer: Firstly the cameras that were hacked were IP cameras that you buy off the shelf. The cameras do not come with state of the art security to ensure the integrity of your home CCTV cameras. Secondly, it is widely known that the hackers only made use of the passwords "admin" or "password" (whereby it was left at default) to gain access to the camera systems after sniffing out the IP addresses of the home CCTV cameras.

Hence it is important that you often change your passwords to something not relatable to yourself (eg: car plate numbers, mobile phone numbers or birthdays) with special signs. Do change the password once every 3 months and try not to reuse it. Also, ensure that you keep your passwords stored properly.

Ultimately your privacy and security matters to us at HomeSafe Security.

Hope this article helps.