Need Advice on Security Camera's

Basically the point of hacking. Why would they bother otherwise ?

Obviously, it can be hacked.

So, you’re either now trying to intentionally play dumb, or you posted a completely irrelevant comment to a thread without reading the previous posts.

You’re assuming that even if one does exist its coverage would have already extended out to the aforementioned street prior to the placement of a WiFi enabled device at the curb.

Which would be an interesting (not to mention cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming) installation out to a public street.

I don’t understand your question. What I’m saying is that all my systems are secured (to the best of my knowledge and abilities), so just because you’re in my network doesn’t mean you can get into any of my systems.

I wouldn’t have asked if it was obvious. I would appreciate any information you can provide. From what I’ve read, the measures I mentioned make brute-force hacking impractical (sure, it can be hacked in theory, but it would take 1000 years) and I’m not aware of any other vulnerabilities.

I don’t mean to be repetitive, but why would someone hack into your network without the intention of hacking into your systems ? It would be a waste their time.

To be quite serious, brute-force techniques are primitive. It’s what someone currently would only use to hack into someone’s email or facebook account.

If somebody that knew what they were doing wanted access to your network and systems, it would not take very long.

You have watched too much CSI and fake-tech TV shows.

Not really that related to the actual topic, but someone would NOT use brute-force to hack into a specific someone’s email or facebook account, as that would not work. The server would not allow more than a couple attempts in a row before locking the account. Thus it would take forever or be impossible to break in through brute-force. The same is true with breaking in to a wifi or computer network with even basic security settings and no known critical vulnerabilities. Brute-force is one of the easiest attacks to thwart.

Brute force and dictionary attacks can still be used to get into email or facebook accounts, but the way they work is NOT trying to get into one particular account with a bunch of guesses in a row. Instead, they would use a massive botnet and target a massive list of accounts, only trying a couple guesses per account and only a couple guesses a day coming from any particular source. This would result in successfully breaking in to a trickle of accounts out of the whole group, but with no way to really target a specific user.

The much easier and only realistic way that someone “hacks into a specific user’s account” (and “hack” is really the wrong word here, but I’ll move on) is through social engineering or through pure stupidity of that specific user. Through social engineering, a nefarious party might call in to the support line for the service and get someone within the company to grant them access to the account or reset the password. Through stupidity of the user, the password or required “security questions” might be really simple to guess – or they may be re-used across several services and one of those other services may have been compromised. This second problem (common login details across services by stupid users) is probably the main goal of the un-targeted brute-force attempts. Once one would figure out the login user/pw to any service, they would go immediately try that same combination at all the major banking, email, and financial sites.

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Are you just guessing here or do you have concrete knowledge? Because I know what I’m doing and I don’t know how to hack into my own network, which is why I asked for specific information.

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OP, I had great luck with these cameras. Inexpensive and work very well. I don’t think this particular model will work in your case, but perhaps another model from the same mfr would. Good luck dealing with these trespassers!

Thanks everyone wrt the suggestions. I have another phone question. Some phones are locked to a carrier, but I won’t be using them as phones, so things like the camera’s, WIFI & Bluetooth should all work, yes? So, it shouldn’t matter whether they are locked to a carrier, because that only applies to cell phone usage. I’ve done some Googling, and found instructions on how to use a locked phone for other purposes, along with instructions which suggest going into the settings and putting the device in airplane mode. There’s a really cheap one that has a single hairline crack on the screen, includes charger, box & manual - but it is locked to Cricket Wireless. Screen and phone all work. It looks good in the pics,crack in screen is barely noticeable, it’s a good $10 cheaper than other listings for this phone, and includes free shipping.

Yes.

Great! I ordered that phone (It’s a Samsung) plus the waterproof case that turns it into a mountable camera. Significantly cheaper than the unlocked ones, with a decent camera to get those license plate pics. Also got a wall charger and two batteries, so I can easily open the case, and swap out the batteries as needed for the pole-mounted one. And ordered hardware for the additional signage I bought, plus for the camera case; that is theft proof. Bought locking nuts and the screws are round heads tightened with a hex key. The case is pretty rugged, meant for outdoor sports use, and not easily breakable - it would take a lot of effort for someone to vandalize it. I’ll add a lock so it can’t be easily opened either.

As for indoors, I have an Android tablet that is rarely used, so I think that’ll be one of the window cams. Neighborhood handyman said he’s got a few older smartphones with cameras, I can have any of those if I want. Will see if any would work. Still undecided about apps, a lot of folks like Alfred a lot. I already have a Google account, including cloud storage that I never really use. By next week, I expect to have a system up & running, I pity those who violate the signs, NOT!

Thanks for the feedback, suggestions, ideas, etc. Have to say this repurposing old smartphones & tablets as security cams is definitely the frugal man’s way to go. :wink:

You’re not likely to encounter this with Android phones, I don’t think, but iPhones may require a SIM card from a carrier in order to activate the phone. There are workarounds.

I’m using all Android, and from what I’ve found searching, the phones will work fine if I go into settings and select “airplane mode”. I just need to connect to WiFi so I can install the app I choose, then set them up to operate as cameras.

Sounds good.

It would if it had an algorithm, but the point was it’s primitive tech. Besides, there’s a tool to access facebook accts without requiring passwords. Not that I’m into that, but I do like to stay relatively up to date.

That’s old hat, simply guessing and trial & error. It’s how Guccifer got into the email accounts of Colin Powell and other celebs, which is why him being behind the ultra-sophisticated stuff seems unlikely.

That would require detailed specifics of your setup.

Oh, BTW:

Russian Hackers Attacking Home Routers, ISPs and Business Firewalls

Here you go:

  • Archer C7 v2 with LEDE 17.01.4, periodically updated.
  • iptables DROP incoming packets. The only way to get in from outside is with fwknop.
  • WPA2-PSK, forced cipher, long non-dictionary key, KRACK countermeasures, MAC address filter to only allow known MACs, hidden SSID (I’m aware this last one is ineffective).
  • All regular PCs on the network have no open ports. Windows ones with ZoneAlarm firewall, Androids with NoRoot Firewall. Firewalls are manually configured and users are trained. My security cameras may be vulnerable (without known/published vulnerabilities, but I’m considering switching to Android phones per this thread), but they should only be accessible from the LAN (thus fwknop). Hidden FTP server for the cams only accepts connections from cams and one PC. And if you hack my TV I’ll know my setup isn’t as good as I hoped :slight_smile:.

Seems like a bad idea to me for permanent setup. If only because most phones won’t work without a battery. And lion batteries seem like a fire hazard, especially if they’re more exposed to the elements/temperature changes and in 24x7 operation.

Cellphones are all made for 24x7 operation. I suppose they’re not meant to be plugged in 24/7, but that shouldn’t overheat them. My problem is that I’d want night vision (IR filter).

scripta,

My first recommendation would be a hardware firewall. I have some additional suggestions, but they would be after that first step.

Why? The router has a built-in firewall.