Many homeowners are investing in Wifi cameras for securing their homes and keeping their families safe. Doorbell cameras, security cameras, and baby monitors are a few Wifi cameras that are commonly used. However, with advanced technology at everyone’s disposal, there is a surge in cases of the home Wifi cameras being hacked.
With this, the number of malicious activities have also increased. We will talk in detail about how the Wifi cameras can get hacked and how you can get to know whether someone has hacked your home Wifi camera. This article will tell you about how you can protect your Wifi camera from hackers and other unethical actors.
How Can Wi-Fi Cameras be hacked?
You may be wondering about how these secure Wifi cameras get hacked. One of the major causes behind your camera getting hacked is weak password protection or when homeowners do not change the default password.
In some cases, the Wifi cameras even lack the basic security features. If your camera is not getting connected to your Wifi, it indicates that SSL/TLS encryption is not supported, making it vulnerable to hacking. There is also a significant need for awareness among the users about the router and camera security.
The most commonly used technique by hackers to deceive people is called ‘clickjacking’. The CSS and HTML codes on the applications can create a source on the file that is almost invisible. This way an ‘allow’ tab is placed near another tab like ‘play’. So when a user clicks on ‘play’ or the ‘close’ tab, they are in fact giving permission to the hackers to access their cameras.
What are the Signs Leading to WiFi Cameras Hacking?
Here are some signs that may indicate that your wifi camera may be hacked.
- Your camera may be struggling to function normally.
- Camera moves a lot and strange beeps and sounds come from it.
- The LED light on your camera flickers unexpectedly.
- If you are having trouble logging in due to an incorrect password or an unauthorized user in your account.
- A significant increase in data usage indicating camera footage transfer.
How to Protect WiFi Cameras From Hackers?
If any of the above signs are evident in your Wifi camera system functions, you need to take necessary measures to keep your cameras protected. Here are a few ways in which you can protect your Wifi cameras from hackers.
1. Make Your Home Network Secure
The first thing you must do when you notice that your Wifi camera has been hacked is securing the Wifi network. This will include applying the WPA2-AES encryption method, modifying SSID name, changing the router password to a stronger one, disabling guest networking, and other things that you may feel is necessary.
2. Use Strong Passwords
You may have not changed the default password, if so you need to do that as a priority. Keeping the default password as it is leaves an option to the hackers for gaining access easily. This is why you need to change the password to a stronger password that has uppercase letters, lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers. Stronger and complicated passwords makes it difficult for the hackers.
3. Enable Network Encryption
A crucial step in protecting your Wifi cameras from hackers is by enabling network encryption. This will scramble data as it gets transmitted which makes it difficult for the hackers to access it. Generally, all routers have encryption enabled in them by default but it is always available to check whether your router is using a secure encryption protocol.
4. Do Updates Regularly (Software/Firmware)
The software of your Wifi enabled cameras that is responsible for the functioning of your camera is the firmware. It is very important that you keep the firmware up to date. This will ensure that your cameras are running in a software version that is the most secure. You can check the camera manufacturer’s website to ensure whether your firmware is up to date or not.
5. Turn Off Remote Control Access
If the cameras at your home are connected to the internet, it is important for you to disable remote control access. This stops any hacker from remotely gaining access to your camera and controlling it. You also need to ensure that the cameras cannot be accessed publicly, this will make it even more difficult for the hackers to access your camera.
6. Monitor Your Network Activity
You need to monitor your network activity regularly to protect your camera against hackers. On your network, the incoming and outgoing traffic and also any unauthorized activity can be monitored by using a firewall. To add an extra layer of security, you can use a VPN for data encryption.
7. Set Up Two Factor Authentication
The two factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection to your security camera. You can get your security camera’s company to send you an OTP every time you login to your account, in addition to the login ID and password details that you key in. This way, even if the hackers guess your password, they still won’t be able to gain access to your camera without the OTP that would be sent to your personal mobile number or email ID.
8. Set Up Password Manager
A password manager program can generate very strong and random passwords for any digital account that you may have including the one you use for your security camera. They can even be used to securely store each of these passwords in case you forget them. There are several password managers that are available for free and are also compatible with many browsers and devices.
9. Use VPN
If you are someone who accesses the camera remotely quite often, it is recommended that you use a VPN. Whenever you access your camera remotely, a path between your internal network and device opens up. A VPN would connect your camera and the network using an encrypted network. Such an encrypted pathway will be impenetrable by the hackers.
10. Install Security Feature
When you install a security feature or software, it can detect malicious activity and can block such an activity. It even notifies you of such unauthorized acts of hackers gaining control over your Wifi camera.
11. Use Separate Network
Another way in which you can protect your Wifi cameras is by using a separate network. This isolates the cameras from your network and makes gaining access to it challenging for the hackers.
12. Purchase Right Security Camera or Equipment
You always should purchase a security camera or equipment from a trusted source. Sites like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and a few other sites feature security cameras from trusted brands. Make sure that the camera you pick has TLS and SSL enabled. It should also support SSL encryption for protection against prying eyes.
13. Turn Off Geo-Fencing Feature
Whenever you are home, you can also turn off the geofencing feature to protect your camera against hackers. The instructions to turn off the geofencing feature will be different for every camera and it will be provided in detail by the manufacturer.
14. Adjust Login Timeout Settings in Web Interface and Mobile Apps
One way to protect your home cameras from hackers is by adjusting the login timeout settings on your mobile application. Generally most of the apps stay logged in unless the setting is changed by the user. However, you can set the app to logout after a specified time to prevent any hacker from accessing your camera when they have your login credentials.
15. Replace Outdated Routers
We generally keep changing our phones and laptops to the newest versions. However, after taking a router, we tend to ignore replacing it. If you have a router that has been sitting around for way too long, you will experience poor internet connection and the security of the devices connected to the routers like your camera may also suffer. To overcome the dangers of aging security protocols due to an aging router, it is best you replace your outdated routers at the earliest.
Protect WiFi Cameras from Hackers – FAQs
Ans: Wifi cameras are susceptible to hacking since many users keep a weak password like ‘123456’ or they use the same login details as some other accounts of theirs.
Ans: There are many factors that decide the security of Wi-Fi spy cameras, like changing the default set password and establishing connections with secure networks. When you take these steps, it ensures the safety of your spy camera.
Ans: The Wifi cameras can get blocked due to a signal jamming attack. This would render the devices on the Wifi network unable to send or receive data. This is what makes the wifi cameras less secure when it comes to remote monitoring.
Ans: When the Wifi is disabled, a security camera that runs on the internet cannot be accessed using a mobile device.
Ans: Yes, every camera connected to the internet, including the security cameras at home can get hacked. The wired cameras are comparatively less vulnerable.
Conclusion
It is very important that you protect your Wifi cameras from prying eyes to keep your family safe. Only by understanding the risks a hacking event can pose will help you devise a plan to keep your Wifi camera secure. You need to have a strong password, disable remote access, install security software, and undertake other security measures explained in this article to ensure maximum safety while using a Wifi camera in your home.
