Security Devices’ Weakest Link

Security Devices’ Weakest Link

security cameras vulnerability

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The number of interconnected security devices keeps on growing. Security cameras are vulnerable to cyber attacks. As many as 68.4% ­— or almost 7 out of 10 — cameras are currently running out of date firmware, according to new research conducted by Genetec. Outdated firmware, and failing to change default passwords present some of the biggest weaknesses in cybersecurity defense. 

Until recently, IP cameras came with default security settings, including admin login information that is often publicly available on the manufacturers’ websites. While most camera manufacturers now request users to set up a new password and admin credentials at installation, businesses, cities and government organizations with older equipment never updated their passwords, potentially compromising the other critical data and systems that reside on their network.

Installing the latest firmware ensures the latest cybersecurity protection measures are implemented as soon as they become available, a crucial step in ensuring an organization’s resilience against cyber-attacks, the research claims, according to streetinsider.com.

“Our primary research data points to the fact that more than half of the cameras with out-of-date firmware (53.9%) contain known cybersecurity vulnerabilities. By extrapolating this to an average security network, nearly 4 out of every 10 cameras are vulnerable to a cyber-attack,” said Mathieu Chevalier, Lead Security Architect at Genetec. 

The research also showed that nearly 1 in 4 organizations (23%) fail to use unique passwords, relying instead on the same password across all cameras from the same manufacturer, leaving an easy point of entry for hackers once only one camera has been compromised.

“Unfortunately, our research shows that the “set it and forget it” mentality remains prevalent putting an entire organization’s security and people’s privacy at risk. All it takes is one camera with obsolete firmware or a default password to create a foothold for an attacker to compromise the whole network,” added Chevalier.