Video surveillance to ensure safety and security helps billions of people each day. From a family wandering around a safe shopping centre under the watchful eye of a video surveillance camera, or concerned parents monitoring a sleeping baby; video surveillance touches all of our lives.
With all these benefits, video surveillance systems have become a potential target for attack by criminals. In the past, attacks against video surveillance networks were rare due to the closed nature of systems that would often link via private, directly cabled networks to on-site control rooms.
However, times change and modern video cameras are effectively computers running software connected to a video camera. With the rise of the Internet and lower-cost cameras, video surveillance systems are increasingly accessible over any IP network, which has led to the rise of potential cyberattack.
Real-world incident
Cyberattacks against video surveillance devices are often not detected or reported. However, when these devices are taken over and then used to attack other Internet resources, the issues are harder to ignore.
A massive attack in 2016 that impacted Twitter, Amazon, Tumblr, Reddit, Spotify and Netflix was, in part, generated by a network of video surveillance devices that had been taken over by a cyberattack. The botnet is mainly comprised of digital video recorders (DVRs) and IP cameras made by a Chinese technology company. The components made are sold downstream to vendors who then use it in their own products, leading to tens of thousands of devices co-opted into these dangerous cyber weapons.
Introducing the Mobotix Cactus Concept
In response to these issues, Mobotix has created a cybersecurity strategy called the ‘Cactus Concept’ that aims to deliver a comprehensive approach to protecting Mobotix products against the threat of cyberattacks. The cactus symbolises the core idea behind the Mobotix cybersecurity strategy, where every piece of hardware and software is protected by an array of defences to stop external threats.
Mobotix is unusual within the industry as it develops all of its own software in-house and does not license its technology to third parties. This innovative approach offers significant benefit when it comes to security. By controlling the entire chain of software development, Mobotix is less vulnerable to third-party weaknesses that have impacted other brands where a vulnerability within a third-party software component or hardware leads to a security problem. The Cactus Concept is a “security by design ethos” that has been within the company from day one.
The popularity of video surveillance is rising, as are the threats from cyberattack. Mobotix is actively protecting its devices against the risks and its Cactus Concept aims to raise awareness among potential and existing Mobotix customers of the extremely important issue of data security in network-based video security systems.
Visit the Mobotix Cactus Concept page on the website for more information: www.cactusconcept.com
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd. | All Rights Reserved.
printer friendly version