Due to the arrival of new technology and development of network based devices, we are now at a stage where cyber crime has overtaken all other forms of crime in the UK. For many of us, security had previously been regarded as a physical technology such as CCTV and access control, developed in order to keep intruders out, however this has now changed.
Due to the arrival of new technology and development of network based devices, we are now at a stage where cyber crime has overtaken all other forms of crime in the UK. For many of us, security had previously been regarded as a physical technology such as CCTV and access control, developed in order to keep intruders out. In the past, these devices were closed off to other networks and could only be infiltrated from within a control room or a security office within the building. However, with the growing demand for remote connectivity and access, these devices are now more often than not sitting on an organisations local area network. A device such as a surveillance camera on a network can now be infiltrated remotely, the camera or cameras can then be used maliciously either to view footage or to turn the camera off completely.
Many security manufacturers have failed to acknowledge the threat of cyber attacks, and over the years turned a blind eye to the development of this new type of security risks. Numerous manufacturers have failed to implement the very basic security practises on their own devices. These basic security practises include the exclusion of a password authentication check procedure, so allowing a hacker to run a script which will guess the password of a camera an infinite amount of times until the password has been found. Examples of this can be found online, where a cameras password is guessed by a script within minutes of the script being run. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZoslioj1zg
Video surveillance devices provide a good example of this issue. In 2014, 73,000 security cameras were hacked, due to the use of default passwords. Live video footage of offices, pools and even residential living rooms were streamed on a publicly accessible website. Hacking in to these cameras was made simple because the security installers had failed to change the default camera passwords. Cameras have also been commonly used as part of denial on service attacks, which can cause major disruption to an organisations networking services. This can cause system downtime and largely inconvenience business processes.
As a leading technology minded security integrator, WOT anticipated these issues and proactively invested in expertise and knowledge surrounding the cyber security field, so providing all customers with a safe piece of mind throughout all installations.
