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The only reason I'd want a home security system is to wake me up if I'm sleeping so that I can grab my gun. Video cameras would be nice for checking in on the

The only reason I'd want a home security system is to wake me up if I'm sleeping so that I can grab my gun. Video cameras would be nice for checking in on the house when away, and for post-mortem purposes if there is a break-in. But I tend to worry about the security vulnerabilities and/or backdoors in the cameras sold for these purposes (particularly the cheap Chinese ones). It's not worth it if randos are spying on you in your own home.

heywire 9y ago
> But I tend to worry about the security vulnerabilities and/or backdoors in the cameras sold for these purposes This is precisely why I try to use Raspberry Pi's for stuff like this. Even then, I do put the devices on a separate guest wifi network that is firewalled off from the rest of my network. It doesn't keep them from being used for DDoS or as a jump point for attackers, but at least it (hopefully) keeps them out of my local network.
- aftbit 9y ago
  I've been meaning to put together a guest network that was only allowed to connect to a single VM / LXC container on my home server. Then I could set up a bunch of those cheap Chinese cameras and ensure that nobody was accessing them remotely while still enjoying internet-accessible video.
- ad_hominem 9y ago
  That does sound interesting, would you mind sharing what camera hardware you use? I didn't mention it in my other comment but about 6 months ago I did set up a "YI" brand dome camera[1] for my mother-in-law. It comes with a slick little iPhone/Android app for controlling it, and the setup process / onboarding the device onto her WiFi network was very smooth. So anyway I was demoing their mobile app to her, and I was going to show her how you'd have to be on her WiFi network with the admin password to be able to access the video stream / device. So I disabled the WiFi on her phone to demo that. My jaw about hit the floor when the video stream was still working over her cellular modem (in other words the video was streaming over the Internet by default)! Note this was fresh out of the box, she didn't sign up for YI's cloud platform option or anything like that. So yeah I would be very heavy on iptables rules if I were you. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CW4BN5M https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CW4BN5M
  - heywire 9y ago
    I'm using the official raspberry pi camera module both with a model B and a zero-w. For night vision in my garage, I found a standalone infrared light similar to [1] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Univivi-U48R-48-LEDs-WideAngle-Illuminator/dp/B00M3MQL9W https://www.amazon.com/Univivi-U48R-48-LEDs-WideAngle-Illumi...
semi-extrinsic 9y ago
Here's a bit of statistics for you [1]: for every time someone in the US shoots a burglar in self-defence, there are 900 burglars that successfully stole the firearms in the house and got away with it. So by relying on firearms for home self defence, you're 3 orders of magnitude more likely to be arming violent criminals (that are likely to come back and rob you or a neighbor again) than protecting yourself. [1] http://www.vpc.org/studies/justifiable15.pdf http://www.vpc.org/studies/justifiable15.pdf
- sixbrx 9y ago
  Why limit focus to shootings, simply dissuading the intruder is far preferable and probably much more frequent. In my experience most gun owners don't want to shoot anybody.
  - semi-extrinsic 9y ago
    If, as you suggest, it's much more frequent for a homeowner with a gun to dissuade an intruder without shooting, than it is for the homeowner to shoot the intruder, then it's obviously a much better choice to keep a convincing replica. In that case, you get most of the benefit of a real gun, but there's no chance of your kids injuring/killing someone, or you accidentally injuring/killing a family member, both of which are about as common as shooting an intruder.
    - reitanqild 9y ago
      Or: If your point is to avoid accidents and not to disarm people you can recommend they get a gun safe. Around here gun safes are mandatory. And local hunters and sports shooters work together with the police to keep guns out of the hands of people who cannot be trusted.
      - semi-extrinsic 9y ago
        Guns kept in proper gun safes are pretty much useless against intruders though. (To be clear, I agree everyone should keep their guns properly stored in gun safes at all times, and I also think guns for self defence are a bad solution in first world countries.)
icantdrive55 9y ago
The professional thief is wearing a mask, and most likely knows exactly where you will be comming from with that gun. Your eyes are still a bit blurry, but the adrenaline is pumping. In the back of your mind, you're thinking it might be a false alarm. The theif bum rushes you from behind, and takes the gun. Now--you have a bigger problem. Or, you have great senses, and know exactly where the thief is, and you blow him away. Most people fall into the first catagory, especially the average desk jockey. Now, a loyal dog will protect to the end. That is if they are treated well, and love their owners. I had a Staffordshire terrier, whom I discouraged from territorial behavior, but lost the war. He would patrol the house like a security guard. I always thought I would not want to be the person who went up against his 130 lbs of loyality. I didn't get him for security. I just loved him the minute I picked him up. If I had a do over, because they are such good watch dogs, I would have taught him to not eat anything but was in him bowl, and socialized him earlier. By the time the vet told me he can go to doggie school(he had to wait because of his vaccines to kick in), and socialize-- he was over 100 lbs., and didn't like other dogs. Out of all of life's relationships, I miss my dogs more than anything else.

heywire 9y ago

> But I tend to worry about the security vulnerabilities and/or backdoors in the cameras sold for these purposes This is precisely why I try to use Raspberry Pi's for stuff like this. Even then, I do put the devices on a separate guest wifi network that is firewalled off from the rest of my network. It doesn't keep them from being used for DDoS or as a jump point for attackers, but at least it (hopefully) keeps them out of my local network.

aftbit 9y ago
I've been meaning to put together a guest network that was only allowed to connect to a single VM / LXC container on my home server. Then I could set up a bunch of those cheap Chinese cameras and ensure that nobody was accessing them remotely while still enjoying internet-accessible video.
ad_hominem 9y ago
That does sound interesting, would you mind sharing what camera hardware you use? I didn't mention it in my other comment but about 6 months ago I did set up a "YI" brand dome camera[1] for my mother-in-law. It comes with a slick little iPhone/Android app for controlling it, and the setup process / onboarding the device onto her WiFi network was very smooth. So anyway I was demoing their mobile app to her, and I was going to show her how you'd have to be on her WiFi network with the admin password to be able to access the video stream / device. So I disabled the WiFi on her phone to demo that. My jaw about hit the floor when the video stream was still working over her cellular modem (in other words the video was streaming over the Internet by default)! Note this was fresh out of the box, she didn't sign up for YI's cloud platform option or anything like that. So yeah I would be very heavy on iptables rules if I were you. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CW4BN5M https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CW4BN5M
- heywire 9y ago
  I'm using the official raspberry pi camera module both with a model B and a zero-w. For night vision in my garage, I found a standalone infrared light similar to [1] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Univivi-U48R-48-LEDs-WideAngle-Illuminator/dp/B00M3MQL9W https://www.amazon.com/Univivi-U48R-48-LEDs-WideAngle-Illumi...

semi-extrinsic 9y ago

Here's a bit of statistics for you [1]: for every time someone in the US shoots a burglar in self-defence, there are 900 burglars that successfully stole the firearms in the house and got away with it. So by relying on firearms for home self defence, you're 3 orders of magnitude more likely to be arming violent criminals (that are likely to come back and rob you or a neighbor again) than protecting yourself. [1] http://www.vpc.org/studies/justifiable15.pdf http://www.vpc.org/studies/justifiable15.pdf

sixbrx 9y ago
Why limit focus to shootings, simply dissuading the intruder is far preferable and probably much more frequent. In my experience most gun owners don't want to shoot anybody.
- semi-extrinsic 9y ago
  If, as you suggest, it's much more frequent for a homeowner with a gun to dissuade an intruder without shooting, than it is for the homeowner to shoot the intruder, then it's obviously a much better choice to keep a convincing replica. In that case, you get most of the benefit of a real gun, but there's no chance of your kids injuring/killing someone, or you accidentally injuring/killing a family member, both of which are about as common as shooting an intruder.
  - reitanqild 9y ago
    Or: If your point is to avoid accidents and not to disarm people you can recommend they get a gun safe. Around here gun safes are mandatory. And local hunters and sports shooters work together with the police to keep guns out of the hands of people who cannot be trusted.
    - semi-extrinsic 9y ago
      Guns kept in proper gun safes are pretty much useless against intruders though. (To be clear, I agree everyone should keep their guns properly stored in gun safes at all times, and I also think guns for self defence are a bad solution in first world countries.)

icantdrive55 9y ago

The professional thief is wearing a mask, and most likely knows exactly where you will be comming from with that gun. Your eyes are still a bit blurry, but the adrenaline is pumping. In the back of your mind, you're thinking it might be a false alarm. The theif bum rushes you from behind, and takes the gun. Now--you have a bigger problem. Or, you have great senses, and know exactly where the thief is, and you blow him away. Most people fall into the first catagory, especially the average desk jockey. Now, a loyal dog will protect to the end. That is if they are treated well, and love their owners. I had a Staffordshire terrier, whom I discouraged from territorial behavior, but lost the war. He would patrol the house like a security guard. I always thought I would not want to be the person who went up against his 130 lbs of loyality. I didn't get him for security. I just loved him the minute I picked him up. If I had a do over, because they are such good watch dogs, I would have taught him to not eat anything but was in him bowl, and socialized him earlier. By the time the vet told me he can go to doggie school(he had to wait because of his vaccines to kick in), and socialize-- he was over 100 lbs., and didn't like other dogs. Out of all of life's relationships, I miss my dogs more than anything else.