Installing a camera at home may actually lead to surveillance? Try to choose well-known brands when making a purchase

Citizens often purchase smart cameras to monitor the elderly and children, as well as to prevent theft

The reporter learned that currently, smart home cameras are mostly installed in the living room, kitchen, or doorstep, and the vast majority are used to check the safety of the elderly and children at home. Especially after the "wolf nanny" incident, many citizens will buy surveillance nannies to see if they will abuse children and elderly people. Some citizens purchase smart cameras to prevent theft or to check the condition of their pets at home.

Ms. Sun, a citizen, said that both of them are working professionals, with only their mother-in-law taking care of the children at home. However, as the elderly get older and have limited mobility, installing a camera at home provides them with much more peace of mind. In case of any unexpected situation with the child or elderly, they can quickly detect and return home. In addition, due to the camera's ability to transmit audio, the couple can also talk to their children and elderly through their phones, which feels quite fun.

Mr. Zhang, a citizen, also said that the smart camera installed at home is really user-friendly. After downloading the app, you can click on your phone to view the camera's monitoring screen. Even if it is thousands of miles away, as long as both your phone and camera can connect to the network, you can still keep track of the situation at home in real time.

[Market]

Physical store sales are not as good as online sales at mainstream prices below 500 yuan

The reporter visited Digital Street and other places in the electronic city and found that there are many shops selling smart cameras on the market, with mainstream prices ranging from 200 yuan to 500 yuan. The more expensive the camera, the more functions it has. In addition to high-definition and night vision functions, some cameras also have the ability to recognize and capture moving objects. In addition, the angle and shooting range of the camera can be adjusted through the phone.

However, multiple shop owners told reporters that home smart cameras are not selling well, and merchants do not like them because the prices are too transparent and the profits are too low. A merchant in the electronic city told reporters that it may take several days for home cameras to sell one or two, and they only sell them incidentally.

Xu Suhao, a professional in Xiamen, said that the sales of home smart cameras account for less than 1/10 of the total sales of the cameras he represents. "We mainly work on engineering projects, such as stores, *, companies, etc., which require professional personnel to install and debug. Several will be installed at once."

In contrast, consumers are more enthusiastic about online shopping. When reporters searched for webcams on Taobao, thousands of related products immediately appeared, with prices ranging from tens of thousands of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan. Some sellers had good sales, selling hundreds of them in a month.

[Vulnerability]

The scene of a woman walking back and forth in pajamas in the living room was livestreamed live on site

However, while users enjoy the convenience of using home smart cameras, their privacy may also be unknowingly compromised due to the use of internet transmission for such cameras.

360 Attack and Defense Laboratory expert Liu Jianhao stated in an interview with our reporter that they have conducted security monitoring tests specifically for household smart cameras. I bought a popular camera online and randomly entered a phone number on my phone. Then, I performed a few simple cracking operations on my computer to bind the camera. At this point, not only is the scene captured by the camera that matches the phone number at a glance, but even some scenes in the living room and bedroom of the family can be seen.

"For example, in the footage we see from a camera, two women in pajamas are walking back and forth in the living room, and the popular TV series" Ode to Joy "is playing on the living room TV." Liu Jianhao said that in another family, the camera was installed in the bedroom, and the bed layout in the bedroom is clear at a glance.

Liu Jianhao explained that theoretically, in order for a mobile phone to remotely view camera content, it must be registered and even required to be "one-on-one". However, this camera is connected to the phone without verifying the phone's identity, which is a very serious vulnerability. Hackers can use a virtual binding to view real-time images of hundreds of cameras through this vulnerability. He also revealed that at least dozens of cameras with this vulnerability have been discovered, including some well-known brands.

[Statement]

When making a purchase, try to choose a well-known brand to ensure that the equipment used is a * version

According to the "Assessment Report on the Security Status of Smart Home Cameras in China", there are currently over 100 brands of smart cameras on the market for sale in China, and there are countless "counterfeit" products without brands. However, nearly 80% of the products have security defects such as user information leakage, unencrypted data transmission, insecure APP reinforcement, defects in code logic, hardware debugging interfaces, and horizontal control.

Regarding this, Xu Suhao stated that this statement is not at all excessive. The principle of smart cameras is to directly share monitoring images with the network through IP addresses, with only simple encryption, and encryption methods can be cracked. As for the more secure VPN peer-to-peer connection technology, it will not be intercepted, but it must pay a high fee. Each point has to pay the operator a fee every year, which is not commonly used by households.

Liu Jianhao suggests that when purchasing a home smart camera, it is necessary to conduct some research on the selected smart camera, try to choose some well-known brands, and then see if the vulnerabilities of the brand's devices can be found online. Log in to the camera frequently to check, and if you find that the angle is incorrect, you need to pay attention to your account security. At the same time, pay attention to network security inquiries and keep an eye on news related to smart camera security. If there is a vulnerability in the device, it is necessary to wait for the manufacturer to update and ensure that the smart camera used is the * version.