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It is often suggested to protect your home from robberies, fires and other incidents with the help of smart technology, primarily cameras. But at the same time, they forget to protect the security systems themselves from hostile influence. We will fill this gap.
The Edina Police Department recently posted a rather remarkable warning to residents: after investigating nine residential burglaries, police concluded that thieves were jamming the apartment's Wi-Fi connection. This was done to prevent smart security cameras in the building from alerting the owners of the danger and transmitting video of the incident. Is such a high-tech robbery possible? Yes. Are there other ways to attack smart home security systems? Absolutely. What can you do about it? We'll tell you right now!
What's worse, many devices are vulnerable to two basic attacks: power failure and communication failure.
There are many ways to disrupt Wi-Fi in your home, from crude jamming of the entire radio frequency range to more specialized attacks on a specific network or Wi-Fi client. You can also do without messing around with the radio. The Internet is usually connected in an apartment by one of four easily recognizable cables: fiber optic, telephone, twisted pair (Ethernet), or television coaxial. You can reliably disrupt the connection by simply cutting these cables.
Well, if the power supply for the entire security system is based on the electrical network without backup sources, then by simply disconnecting the power from the apartment, you can easily overcome the smart protection.
Choosing the right equipment. It is best to take care of all of the above before purchasing security and protective systems. This way you will be able to take into account additional requirements for equipment:
The first two requirements are perfectly combined in cameras that operate using PoE (Power over Ethernet) technology. Both information and power are transmitted via a single cable. All you have to do is buy either a router or hub with PoE support, or a separate PoE converter and connect it to the power grid via an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Thanks to this, the Internet in the apartment, the operability of cameras and sensors, and their connection to the router will be resistant to power outages and Wi-Fi interference.
If the option with Ethernet cables laid around the apartment is not suitable, you can consider cameras with autonomous power supply (batteries), or, at worst, connect the cameras via a powerful power bank. This will protect against power outages, but the problem with malicious Wi-Fi interference will remain. To overcome it, you can choose devices that operate on 3G, 4G, 5G. It is worth considering that they are usually intended for houses, not apartments, so they often have an outdoor design: with a moisture-resistant casing, long-range IR illumination, and so on.
Many cameras have the ability to record to an SD card, but this will not help much in quickly responding to an incident.
A sufficient level of mechanical protection is primarily important for locks, but is also partly relevant for cameras, doorbells and sensors that are directly accessible to an intruder. It is difficult to assess the degree of such protection before purchasing, but you can search the Internet for reviews with tests of real burglary and vandal resistance, as well as customer reviews.
Assessing the level of cybersecurity of a specific camera or doorbell is also not easy: you will have to study the manufacturer's website in detail, its reputation in terms of technical support and release of updates. We have given some useful tips on this topic earlier.
We implement duplication. Even if the equipment has already been purchased, some additional measures will help improve home security. It is highly advisable to back up the Internet channel. Depending on the situation, the backup channel can be launched either via a 4G modem or using a second wired connection and a second router. The main difficulty is to configure the router and other equipment so that the connection automatically switches to the backup channel when the main one is disconnected. In some routers this is not difficult, the function is called backup channel, in some it is completely impossible. Of course, both routers (if there are two) will need power via a UPS. If you do not have an uninterruptible power supply yet, it is high time to correct this omission.
If it is difficult to ensure duplication of the Internet channel and automatic switching at the router level, a relatively simple alternative is to install a duplicate camera: one works through the main Internet channel, the other through the backup one.
Protecting yourself from cyberattacks. To make targeted attacks on security devices more difficult, it is important to follow the cybersecurity rules that we have written about many times: protect your router, choose strong Wi-Fi passwords, regularly update the firmware of smart devices and the router, use a comprehensive security solution for all computers, smartphones, and smart devices in your home network.
Source
The Edina Police Department recently posted a rather remarkable warning to residents: after investigating nine residential burglaries, police concluded that thieves were jamming the apartment's Wi-Fi connection. This was done to prevent smart security cameras in the building from alerting the owners of the danger and transmitting video of the incident. Is such a high-tech robbery possible? Yes. Are there other ways to attack smart home security systems? Absolutely. What can you do about it? We'll tell you right now!
Defenseless defenders
Security devices, be it locks, cameras, alarms, etc., would seem to be protected as reliably as possible from hostile actions of all kinds. They will be deliberately attacked to disable them! In practice, unfortunately, manufacturers are not always prudent. They make all sorts of mistakes: in smart locks, the mechanical part is not reliable enough, in cameras, the video stream is transmitted in an open form, allowing outsiders to view it or even interfere with it, in alarms, the control channels are poorly protected. This is in addition to other smart home vulnerabilities that we have been writing about for many years.What's worse, many devices are vulnerable to two basic attacks: power failure and communication failure.
There are many ways to disrupt Wi-Fi in your home, from crude jamming of the entire radio frequency range to more specialized attacks on a specific network or Wi-Fi client. You can also do without messing around with the radio. The Internet is usually connected in an apartment by one of four easily recognizable cables: fiber optic, telephone, twisted pair (Ethernet), or television coaxial. You can reliably disrupt the connection by simply cutting these cables.
Well, if the power supply for the entire security system is based on the electrical network without backup sources, then by simply disconnecting the power from the apartment, you can easily overcome the smart protection.
Increasing the effectiveness of protection
Most of the problems described in the previous section can be solved. As with any security measures, all the techniques do not guarantee 100% protection, but will significantly reduce the likelihood of a successful robbery.Choosing the right equipment. It is best to take care of all of the above before purchasing security and protective systems. This way you will be able to take into account additional requirements for equipment:
- availability of autonomous power supply,
- the ability to transfer information without Wi-Fi,
- sufficient level of mechanical protection,
- the manufacturer's compliance with high cybersecurity standards.
The first two requirements are perfectly combined in cameras that operate using PoE (Power over Ethernet) technology. Both information and power are transmitted via a single cable. All you have to do is buy either a router or hub with PoE support, or a separate PoE converter and connect it to the power grid via an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Thanks to this, the Internet in the apartment, the operability of cameras and sensors, and their connection to the router will be resistant to power outages and Wi-Fi interference.
If the option with Ethernet cables laid around the apartment is not suitable, you can consider cameras with autonomous power supply (batteries), or, at worst, connect the cameras via a powerful power bank. This will protect against power outages, but the problem with malicious Wi-Fi interference will remain. To overcome it, you can choose devices that operate on 3G, 4G, 5G. It is worth considering that they are usually intended for houses, not apartments, so they often have an outdoor design: with a moisture-resistant casing, long-range IR illumination, and so on.
Many cameras have the ability to record to an SD card, but this will not help much in quickly responding to an incident.
A sufficient level of mechanical protection is primarily important for locks, but is also partly relevant for cameras, doorbells and sensors that are directly accessible to an intruder. It is difficult to assess the degree of such protection before purchasing, but you can search the Internet for reviews with tests of real burglary and vandal resistance, as well as customer reviews.
Assessing the level of cybersecurity of a specific camera or doorbell is also not easy: you will have to study the manufacturer's website in detail, its reputation in terms of technical support and release of updates. We have given some useful tips on this topic earlier.
We implement duplication. Even if the equipment has already been purchased, some additional measures will help improve home security. It is highly advisable to back up the Internet channel. Depending on the situation, the backup channel can be launched either via a 4G modem or using a second wired connection and a second router. The main difficulty is to configure the router and other equipment so that the connection automatically switches to the backup channel when the main one is disconnected. In some routers this is not difficult, the function is called backup channel, in some it is completely impossible. Of course, both routers (if there are two) will need power via a UPS. If you do not have an uninterruptible power supply yet, it is high time to correct this omission.
If it is difficult to ensure duplication of the Internet channel and automatic switching at the router level, a relatively simple alternative is to install a duplicate camera: one works through the main Internet channel, the other through the backup one.
Protecting yourself from cyberattacks. To make targeted attacks on security devices more difficult, it is important to follow the cybersecurity rules that we have written about many times: protect your router, choose strong Wi-Fi passwords, regularly update the firmware of smart devices and the router, use a comprehensive security solution for all computers, smartphones, and smart devices in your home network.
Source
