I work in this industry, but I might have some facts incorrect. My understanding was that the devices that were hijacked are older (2-3 years minimum) model NV

I work in this industry, but I might have some facts incorrect. My understanding was that the devices that were hijacked are older (2-3 years minimum) model NVR's and IP Cameras. The firmware for these devices is built on top of Busy box. From what I can tell, this firmware comes with telnet enabled and after many years of exploits, these companies fixed the firmware and removed the exploit in newer releases (within the last 2 years). The hijacked devices shared the same characteristics: telnet can be abused and credentials to log into the device were set to default (admin/admin). Add in a global registry of these devices (shodan.io) and you can essentially tap into these devices fairly easily. Whoever was behind the attacks using this firmware exploit must have a very intricate understanding of the firmware IMO. If it was the Chinese gov't, they would be impacting one of the largest providers of CCTV from China (Dahua). The Chinese gov't favors another company (Hikvision) who has raised 6 billion dollars to expand in the US; some if this money came from the Chinese gov't. If China is behind these attacks, it might be to mess with the US and protect their investment (which sounds like a bit of a stretch). Should these companies have their names out in the open? Probably not; firmware in the last 2 years has removed telnet. You might be able to do some damage with their HTTP API, but the device has to use default credentials. Putting their name out might also encourage others to attempt the same type of attacks.