Smart Home Cameras Are Great, But …
May 7, 2024
There are so many options out there for smart home technology right now. But you need to be smart in your planning on what and how to deploy your technology. A multitude of deals exist on new gear being produced by talented startups but many are pushed by competition to get product to market or are underfunded that they cut corners on important elements of the smart home ecosystem. Like security. And some smart home enthusiasts don’t take the time to configure or plan security into their overall technology footprint.
One particular concern is security cameras. They are a great way to monitor your home. But if you don’t lock them down, bad actors can monitor you, instead.
Security cameras are a great way to observe your home while you’re away, whether you’re monitoring your pets, watching for intruders, or just making sure your packages arrive safely at your doorstep — and stay there. But if you don’t take care to secure your cameras, hackers can gain access to them and start observing you. Fortunately, camera manufacturers offer easy ways to harden these devices against attack.
One of the most common mistakes people make is to reuse the same password on more than one device or service. If one manufacturer or service provider suffers a security breach that exposes usernames and passwords, hackers will try and use those stolen credentials to gain access to other devices and service accounts.
In one example involving security cameras specifically, a California family’s Nest camera received a fake warning of a North Korean missile launch. That’s not to say hackers can’t gain access to your camera by exploiting known vulnerabilities in the manufacturers’ hardware or software; but in the case of the California couple, Nest was not directly responsible for the attack. The security lapse was traced back to the camera’s owner.
But don’t go unplugging your cameras just yet. There are several ways you can protect your security camera and your home from being hacked. Following these guidelines will help ensure your cameras are safe:
Change Your Security Cameras’ Default Passwords
A lot of security cameras come with default passwords, mostly to make the initial setup a little easier for new users. But since these can be easy to guess or the passwords are documented on the dark web, changing the factory-set password is one of the first things you should do.
It is recommended to use a complex password for the device as well as any associated applications or services. The password should either be a random nonsensical phrase or have a long string of characters (both lowercase and uppercase), numbers, and symbols.
It’s also recommends using complex passwords for the email address that’s associated with the security camera (which you should be doing anyway). Otherwise, hackers can access your email account, send a password reset to that email address, defeating the entire purpose of that complex camera password.
Use a Password Manager
If you have trouble remembering all those complex passwords — and many of us do — then consider using a password manager. Password managers allow you to have multiple unique passwords for every service you use without needing to memorize all of them. Your password-manager login is encrypted, so all you need to remember is one single master password.
At their most basic, password managers capture your username and password — usually via a browser plugin — when you log in to a website, and then automatically fill in your credentials when you return to that site. They store all your passwords in an encrypted database, often referred to as a “vault,” which you protect with a single master password.
Of course, most password managers do much more than this and many extend protection beyond your login credentials to other types of personal data.
Per the password information above, the strongest passwords are long, random strings of characters, and that you should use a different one for each site you access. This is what makes password generation — the ability to create complex passwords out of letters, numbers, and special characters — a necessary feature of any good password manager. The best password managers will also be able to analyze your existing passwords for weaknesses and upgrade them with a click.
Most password managers can autofill your login credentials whenever you visit a site and even log you in automatically. So, the master password is the only one you ever have to enter. The best managers will also let you toggle off this feature if you feel the risk outweighs the convenience.
To a cybercriminal, your password manager’s master password is as hackable as any other password. Increasingly, password managers support multi-factor authentication — using a second method such as a PIN, a fingerprint, or another ‘trusted device’ for additional verification — to mitigate this risk. Choose one that does.
Because of how frequently we use them online, credit card and bank account numbers, our addresses, and other personal data can be securely stored in many password managers and available to autofill into web forms when we’re shopping or registering an account.
No online security measure is 100 percent foolproof, but most security experts agree that password managers are still the safest way for people to manage their multitude of logins and the benefits far outweigh the risks. Just choose your password manager carefully after researching all the options.
There are quite a number of different password managers on the market and some come with a cost but here are a few of the better ones:
Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication
In addition to using complex passwords, it’s also a good idea to use multi-factor authentication. This adds an additional layer of security to access your security camera. If you opt in to this, you’ll get a single-use passcode via text message, email, or an authenticator app that you’ll need to enter in addition to your usual username and password. It’s generally preferable to use an authenticator app, as it’s less likely to be accessed remotely compared to text message or email.
Security cameras that offer two-factor authentication include the ones from Google, Ring, Eufy and Wyze. If your security camera doesn’t offer multi-factor authentication, then definitely get it for your email.
Update the Camera’s Firmware
One of the biggest mistakes that most security camera owners make is they just plug it in, set it up, and then forget about it. Software bugs and security vulnerabilities get discovered all the time, so it’s important that you regularly update your camera’s firmware.
These updates will patch known vulnerabilities, so you can stay ahead of the hackers. Some cameras will download updates automatically; others might require a manual update. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to check your camera’s settings every so often to make sure your firmware is up to date. The same goes for the camera’s monitoring software — and your other smart home devices.
Enable End-to-End Encryption
In addition to making sure your camera has up-to-date security protocols and encrypts private information such as your username and password, you should also enable end-to-end encryption if your camera has this feature. This essentially ensures that no third parties will get access to your videos or live feeds. Ring is one manufacturer that supports end-to-end encryption, but you need to turn the feature on — it defaults to being disabled.
Stay Informed
Last but not least, it’s worth doing a bit of research on your security camera manufacturer every once in a while. The reason is to see if there are publicly known cases of vulnerabilities to analyze how the vendor responded to them. If the vendor fixed everything, went public, and admitted their mistakes, then they can be trusted.
It’s also recommended finding out if the vendor’s website has a section dedicated to cybersecurity issues. This suggests that the vendor pays attention to this and works more closely with third-party researchers.
Hopefully this helps define some guidelines to follow and help understand the issues. I realize some people aren’t even aware of any of this so my goal is to shed some light for them as well.
I’m curious what your thoughts are around securing your security cameras. If you have them are your taking all these steps to secure them? Are there other precautions you take? Are you thinking about possibly changing out the cameras you have due to security concerns? I’d love to hear about your decision making around the cameras you chose. If you’re still considering cameras has this motivated you or are you having second thoughts?
Let Debbie and I know what you think in the comments, DMs and emails as we really enjoy hearing from you. Thanks again to all those following Debbie and I through our home building journey. It’s great to hear your success stories and suggestions as we move through the process. And if you like the content I’m posting each week, don’t forget to ‘Like’ and ‘Follow.’
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