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Protecting Your Avtech Security Cameras From Being Hacked
Since early 2017, there has been a significant increase in security camera systems getting hacked worldwide with hundreds of thousands of systems being affected.
This hacking can be of any electronics that can be connected to the internet, smart TV's, smart appliances, baby monitors, smart home systems, and security cameras.
This hacking can be of any electronics that can be connected to the internet, smart TV's, smart appliances, baby monitors, smart home systems, and security cameras.
How Can you Tell If you Have Been Hacked?
The current wave of hacking security camera systems focuses on changing your password. This will result in you not being able to access your cameras from your phone, and you will not be able to log into the system. In most cases your system will continue to record and function properly, and unless you try to login to your system you would not know that your password has been compromised.
If you receive a message on your phone that the cameras are inaccessible such as "authentication error" or "insufficient user" when you try and access the cameras you will need to contact us and we will have to send out a technician to fix it.
If you system is still functioning as normal please continue reading below.
If you receive a message on your phone that the cameras are inaccessible such as "authentication error" or "insufficient user" when you try and access the cameras you will need to contact us and we will have to send out a technician to fix it.
If you system is still functioning as normal please continue reading below.
How Can You Prevent This?
STEP 1-If You Have Not Been Hacked
We are advising all customers who have a system online that have not been hacked to follow the following steps as soon as possible.
If your user name and password still work, change the password on the system to something quite complicated. You should be using a mix of capital letters, numbers, and symbols. For example !hLm783A2L5$ . Please be sure to write this down and keep for your records.
NOTE: Although a strong password makes things more difficult for software to hack you, it is strongly recommended you continue with STEP 2 after STEP 1, or call us and we can help guide you through it.
This will need to be done on your system and on your phone. Below is a screenshot of how to change the password on your phone by clicking the edit button within the app.
If your user name and password still work, change the password on the system to something quite complicated. You should be using a mix of capital letters, numbers, and symbols. For example !hLm783A2L5$ . Please be sure to write this down and keep for your records.
NOTE: Although a strong password makes things more difficult for software to hack you, it is strongly recommended you continue with STEP 2 after STEP 1, or call us and we can help guide you through it.
This will need to be done on your system and on your phone. Below is a screenshot of how to change the password on your phone by clicking the edit button within the app.
Screenshot of password being changed by pressing the edit button within the app. Not this has to be changed on your recorder first.
STEP 2-If You Have Not Been Hacked
Even with a strong password change we recommend changing the "User Name" and deleting the Administrator account. This is recommended because if the user name is admin, then the hackers need only to crack the password. If the username is unique, then the hackers have to determine the unique user name and password, this greatly increases the difficulty for them to guess both.
As per the video below, you want to add a new user, and give that new user name "administrator" or "supervisor" level. This needs to be done first before attempting to remove the admin account from the system.
Please remember that the user name and password should be difficult for the software the hacker is using to guess. Our research suggests that there can be up to 1,000 password attempt's per minute, this is how good password cracking software has gotten.
The simpler your password is the higher chance you have of having your account compromised. This goes with any password protected device, email, online banking, or social media accounts.
As per the video below, you want to add a new user, and give that new user name "administrator" or "supervisor" level. This needs to be done first before attempting to remove the admin account from the system.
Please remember that the user name and password should be difficult for the software the hacker is using to guess. Our research suggests that there can be up to 1,000 password attempt's per minute, this is how good password cracking software has gotten.
The simpler your password is the higher chance you have of having your account compromised. This goes with any password protected device, email, online banking, or social media accounts.
Video showing how to add and remove a user using the Avtech recorder software.
STEP 3-If You Have Been Hacked
If your system has been compromised, please do not be concerned as it can be fixed. In order to do this however, a site visit from a technician is required.
We will have to come onsite to reset the recorder with special software. Please call or email us to set up an appointment for this service.
We will have to come onsite to reset the recorder with special software. Please call or email us to set up an appointment for this service.
