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> and wonder if perhaps 99% of normies are just following the directions on the package of their $19 Chinese IP camera. I doubt that the instructions for a che
by Aurornis 4mo ago
> and wonder if perhaps 99% of normies are just following the directions on the package of their $19 Chinese IP camera.
I doubt that the instructions for a cheap camera have enough information to walk a non-technical user through the process of setting up port forwarding on their specific router.
I could believe that it’s automatic port forwarding via UPnP for some of these cameras.
However a lot of them are from contractors who install the cameras for people as a service and this is the only way they know how to get them remote access. It’s the same reason different industrial controls and other machines keep getting exposed to the internet. Some installer with a git-er-done attitude knows their customer wants a solution to something (remote access) and they use the first technique they can find to accomplish that without any concern about what it means. They accomplish the thing the customer wants, collect payment, and disappear.
If the customer calls back with a complaint about it, the contractor will happily come visit the site and try to “fix” it for another fee.
If you’re thinking that this is a liability issue you’re not wrong, but in much of the world there is no realistic recourse. Most things like this are pure caveat emptor.
- naturalmovement 4mo agoMost CCTV contractors are not network security experts. Most network security experts would quit before ever entering a hot attic. So Cletus the CCTV guy who just spent 8 hours crawling through drop ceilings with a mask on, does a super-clean install, and sets it up as well as he knows how. Which is "good enough" — it works and he's off to the next job. The customer's happy and he gets paid. Now which one of you network security guys is going to give up his cushy WFH job to go make house calls for CCTV wages?
- fragmede 4mo agoSir. This is capitalism. What you do is start a company selling secure webcams and hire Cletus to install camera you buy in bulk with your firmware on it, sell the customer a cloud service, and also hire black hat Kevin with cash to expose Cletus's sloppy business practices to bring in customers who are scared into using your service. Also, get money from the government to provide footage to them for "public safety". Just be sure to underpay your techs who actually do the work, err I mean crawl around customer houses. Cletus is free to get a bank loan and mortgage his house to give it a try as well, though he doesn't have a decade of FAANG employment money to lean on, what he does have is experience with customers and crawling around houses.
- petra 4mo agoSetting port forwarding is the wrong ux for this. It should be something simple like: -everything is encrypted - at install I tap my phone on the camera, now my Google account(or something similar) is linked to it as admin. - on that some simple key management architecture should be built
- naturalmovement 4mo agoCool. The Chinese DVR the CCTV installer used doesn't work that way. In fact it probably has a telnet server with a known, hardcoded root password.
- Symbiote 4mo agoIt ought to be that reputable retailers in western countries refuse to sell this junk, instead only selling ones they consider secure. Just like they won't sell dangerous toys. But probably most of these cameras are bought through Amazon, AliExpress or Temu.
- naturalmovement 4mo agoThis junk controls like 90% of the market though. A lot of it gets rebranded via the OEM/ODM route so good luck finding out who designed the original software.