Cyber Attack – D.C. Cameras

Over the past few months, more and more IOT devices, including DVRs, and cameras, are being reportedly compromised and proven vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Most recently, the Washington Post reported that unidentified hackers managed to compromise almost 70% of the D.C. police closed-circuit surveillance cameras eight days prior to the Presidential inauguration. According to the Washington Post, D.C. police noticed four camera sites were not functioning properly, and upon further investigation, two forms of ransomware were found in the recording devices. In total, the cyber-attack affected 123 of 187 network video recorders. In order to resolve the matter, the city was forced to take all those devices offline, remove all the software, and restart the system at each site. All and all, this resulted in video surveillance being inaccessible to authorities for over 48 hours.

In order to help minimize the risk of cyber attacks on your video surveillance infrastructure, we recommend that you take these two important measures:

1. Change default passwords: Make sure that default logins and passwords are changed from factory defaults, and have strong passwords in place for all of your IP cameras and network video recorders.
2. Keep software and firmware up to date: These releases often contain patches for security vulnerabilities, so keeping these up to date will minimize risk.

Washington Post article:
http://wapo.st/2kNYqnO

Eagle Eye Networks’ Security Video Management System is built to withstand cyber-attacks. Our system only makes outbound connections to the cloud, making it impossible for hackers to reach your information.