ghost or hacker ?

[Cash1972]

It' s a long time, since November that I' ve installed 2 ipcam to capture the young "scemo" that leave many "gifts" on my car. The absurd is that i' ve tryed many position in order to obtain the best image by high and wide. The car is perfectly taken into the camera but when this moron is close to the car it seems impossible but I cannot obtain any image like he is a ghost. Today I' ve found a stain on the front of my car let with a shoe. So the guy was close to the car a I cannot find any image / video of this.

One camera is Digoo Zxc 40 and is configured to film continuosly, has good ir and is on ups. It' s connected to my router via cable and not via wifi. I' ve changed the password for admin. It' s impossible to gain access because I cannot see the wifi of ipcam using another pc or a smartphone. So if I suppose that this guy has the user / password how can be the access obtained. The only sure thing is that every night between 2 am and 3 am the camera stop working for less than a minute. This is evident by the duration of video, it' s always 10 minutes but 1, that is shorter.

The other cam is a Victure Pc 750 with pir sensor and film only when the pir is activated. I' ve tested the cam and seem that pir is very sensitive.

So the question is "I' ve watched all the registration and I' ve not caught the moron by my car". I' know for sure who is but I need evidence. This guys is less than a farmer.

Have anyone somthing to suggest before I get mad.

Thanks in advance.

 

[sebastiantombs]

My suggestion is to get a real camera that has real night vision. I looked at the specs for that camera and they don't specify what size the sensor is. I'm guessing it's probably a 1/3" sensor which is far too small for a 5MPcamera to produce a clean, sharp, blur free image at night. The fact that it's also WiFI also makes it unreliable as well.

The rule of thumb for sensor sizes versus resolution are -

1/3" for a 720P, or lower resolution, camera
1/2.8" or 1/2.7" for a 2MP camera
1/1.8" sensor for a 4MP camera
1/1.2" for a 8MP camera

When looking for a camera, don't believe anything the manufacturer says, even Dahua and Hikvision. Look for reviews that include motion video at night, and that video needs to be clean and sharp. Additionally the camera need to be mounted low enough, or far enough back and with enough zoom to reduce the angles involved, to allow true identification that is acceptable as evidence in legal proceedings.

In short, get a good camera that is wired with PoE. If you can get power to a WiFi camera, you can get an ethernet camera to that same location.

 

[wittaj]

That is too high to IDENTIFY and depending on the internal workings of that camera with iframes and what not, they may have sped the shutter and iframes down to a point that someone could have moved around and not be triggered. Reolinks are known for that at night and people completely missing motion.

Camera should not go through a router. Routers are not designed to keep up with constant data needs of surveillance cameras because they are always streaming and passing data. And the data demands go up with motion and then you lose signal. A lost packet and it has to resend. It can bring the whole network down if trying to use it through a wifi router.

Unlike Netflix and other streaming services that buffer a movie, these cameras do not buffer up part of the video, so drop outs are frequent. You would be amazed how much streaming services buffer - don't believe me, start watching something and unplug your router and watch how much longer you can watch NetFlix before it freezes. Now do the same with a wifi camera and it is fairly instantaneous (within the latency of the stream itself)...

Most consumer grade wifi routers are not designed to pass the constant video stream data of cameras, and since they do not buffer, you get these issues.

To summarize, it is one or more of the following:

• Camera is crap and adjusts parameters such that motion is missed.
• Router cannot handle the additional load with motion and poops out.
• Person has tapped into your wifi and disables or reboots the router or the camera.
• Camera connected to router and he could be connecting to the camera through an app and disabling it.

I would suggest doing as most of us here have done and isolate the cameras so that they are not connected to the internet or the router. Probably get better cameras too that are installed lower.

 

[mat200]

Thanks for sharing your story @Cash1972

Camera models you listed, I've included what I could find online.

Looks like you are attempting to use a Vespa for the job of a Alfa Romeo ...

Recommendations:
1) Get better cameras
2) place the cameras lower 1.8-2M high is good if parked close to cameras .. one camera on each side of the parking location.

 

[looney2ns]

Study this Cliff Notes

 

[Cash1972]

Thanks to all of You !

I have 2 ipcam mounted outdoor on the wall at 3.5 meters high. During the test, also at night, the pir seems good althought during the hot night of summer is less precise because the body is warm like the air and the pir doesn' t sense the variation of temperature. The Digoo register continuosly for the night and both cameras have 7-10 meters ir penetration. The quality of the videos in the dark is good enough to recognize a person. The proble is that this guy is never cought by the camera, neither by pir, nor by continuous recoding.

I think he is able to stop the cam for less than a minute or knows the lmits / angles the cameras cannot cover.

My router is good enough: 30 mega in down, 10 in up and for prevent stand by I record on micro-sd installed inside the cameras.

I' ve read in internet that many ipcam use simple login like admin/admin or root/cxlinux. But If someone knows this id it' s very hard to access using ip assigned by router because the same ip exist many times for many routers. So the hack is entering the router and than the camera. But, hey guys, the password for router is very long.

The wifi is not used, they are both wired.

I really cannot understand what the fuck does this moron. He is less than a skilled worker.

 

[biggen]

Thanks for sharing your story @Cash1972

Camera models you listed, I've included what I could find online.

Looks like you are attempting to use a Vespa for the job of a Alfa Romeo ...

Recommendations:
1) Get better cameras
2) place the cameras lower 1.8-2M high is good if parked close to cameras .. one camera on each side of the parking location.

View attachment 99148


View attachment 99144
View attachment 99145


View attachment 99146

View attachment 99147

Those camera specs don't make any sense. 5MP with a resolution of 1080. Uh, wut? Then its says 500W for "lens pixel". WTF does that even mean??

 

[wittaj]

These are cheap cameras, even if you have them hardwired, could still be accessible via wifi.

Are you able to completely disable wifi in the camera gui? And if so are you sure.

Your internet speed is irrelevant - consumer grade routers are not designed to carry and route the constant video stream data demands.

Just the fact that the cameras are connected through the router means that with P2P and UPnP enabled, that they can be easily hacked even if they do not know your wifi or router password.

Any port forwards, UPnP, QR code scan type ease of use opens up your system to being hacked due to security vulnerabilities in security cameras (ironic I know). Last thing you need is some hacker get into your system, not to look at your cameras, but to employ a DoS attack originating from your IP address...or worse gaining access to your banking and other sensitive stuff....

Or sometimes it is just to peep at you...or to mess with your car and taunt you by disabling your cameras.

I have a friend that falls under this "I just want to plug it in and scan a code and it works and is cheap" mindset. Many years ago she bought a Foscam wifi camera to monitor her front door. She plugged it in and pointed it out a 2nd story window and downloaded the Foscam app and scanned the QR code and magically she could see her camera.

A few years later she bought a wifi printer and again, simply dowloaded the app from the manufacturer and scanned the QR code and she could start printing.

One time in the middle of the night, she hears her printer printing a page. She thinks maybe she is dreaming or hearing things, so she thinks nothing of it and goes back to sleep. Next morning she gets up and the printed page says I SEE YOU and a picture of her from her Foscam was below it.

She changes her wifi password in case it was the peeping perv next door that she has caught looking at her from through her window.

Problem still persists. She goes into Foscam app and changes the password to the camera. Problem still persists. She gets a new router. Problem still persists. She gets rid of camera and printer.

At some point Foscam issues a security vulnerability and issued a firmware update. Based on chatter on forums, basically the vulnerability was something like when logging into the camera with a web browser over HTTPS, the initial login to the site is done using SSL. But then it establishes a connection to the HTTPS port again (for the media service) and sends all of its commands unencrypted. This means the username and passwords are being sent unencrypted. While this was a security vulnerability found in Foscam, I suspect it is in others as well. I suspect this is how my friend was hacked and someone was sending pictures of her taken from her Foscam camera to her wifi printer that she set up using the QR code.

An older article, but I bet most of these still have the vulnerability as most do not push out firmware to fix holes in security:

New IoT Botnet Rises Feeding on Vulnerable Security Cameras

A new botnet is slowly building critical mass on the back of unsecured webcams and IP cameras, currently mass-scanning the Internet for vulnerable devices.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

Take the cameras off of the router or this nonsense will continue with your taunting neighbor.

 

[mat200]

Thanks to all of You !

I have 2 ipcam mounted outdoor on the wall at 3.5 meters high. During the test, also at night, the pir seems good althought during the hot night of summer is less precise because the body is warm like the air and the pir doesn' t sense the variation of temperature. The Digoo register continuosly for the night and both cameras have 7-10 meters ir penetration. The quality of the videos in the dark is good enough to recognize a person. The proble is that this guy is never cought by the camera, neither by pir, nor by continuous recoding.

I think he is able to stop the cam for less than a minute or knows the lmits / angles the cameras cannot cover.

My router is good enough: 30 mega in down, 10 in up and for prevent stand by I record on micro-sd installed inside the cameras.

I' ve read in internet that many ipcam use simple login like admin/admin or root/cxlinux. But If someone knows this id it' s very hard to access using ip assigned by router because the same ip exist many times for many routers. So the hack is entering the router and than the camera. But, hey guys, the password for router is very long.

The wifi is not used, they are both wired.

I really cannot understand what the fuck does this moron. He is less than a skilled worker.

HI @Cash1972

At night, please test the cameras.

1) Walk slowly by the car and check the door.
2) Walk quickly by the car and touch the door.
3) Jog by the car.
4) Walk and stand by the car for 4 seconds.

Provide a video capture of those.

Typically more affordable cameras have issues with #1-3, and do better when you stand still.

 

[sebastiantombs]

While this thread is centered on Reolink, the same is true of all low end cameras. You get what you pay for -

Compiled by mat200 -

Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"

Executive Summary: DO NOT be a sheep. Ask what a reviewer can be missing, ask if a reviewer is using hype words to sell the cheapest product. Test your cameras and kits right away. Just do a bench test. Test real world conditions. Test moving suspects. Test at night, test at day. Use a test rig...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[CCTVCam]

Those camera specs don't make any sense. 5MP with a resolution of 1080. Uh, wut? Then its says 500W for "lens pixel". WTF does that even mean??

I'm guessing 500W probably means 500 wide but when you start stating pixels in terms of width or height, you're usually talking analogue. It seems the specs are very confused.

3.5m is way too high. For an effective face shot try 6-7 feet 1.8-2.1m approx. If you worried about vandalism, that's why it suggested above you place 2 cameras, 1 either side of the wall so their views cross each other. That way if someone attacks 1 camera, the other captures them and you have evidence of vandalism. At 3.5m if someone keeps their head down or wears a cap, you'll get nothing.

Experience says the ghosting effect is a combination of too much gain and too slow a shutter which in itself is usually a consequence of too little light and / or too insensitive a camera. The light issue is easily fixed with a bright sensor activated LED floodlight (daylight temperature ie 6000-6500K), although this also depends on the ability of your camera to adapt rapidly to a change in lighting. Cameras used to be slow adapting. Now they're fast, but given the cheap nature of the camera, it probably isn't using the latest tech and so may not adapt quickly to changes in light. Even with a powerful floodlight the ability may still; be limited. For max identification ability, colour is best at night but you need a really good camera to be able to run colour as colour cameras need more light or gathering ability.

 

[Cash1972]

...
One time in the middle of the night, she hears her printer printing a page. She thinks maybe she is dreaming or hearing things, so she thinks nothing of it and goes back to sleep. Next morning she gets up and the printed page says I SEE YOU and a picture of her from her Foscam was below it.
...

Take the cameras off of the router or this nonsense will continue with your taunting neighbor.

Hi Vittaj,

tahnks for the story. Now You really scary me ! How can I use the ipcam not connected to router ?

 

[Cash1972]

I'm guessing 500W probably means 500 wide but when you start stating pixels in terms of width or height, you're usually talking analogue. It seems the specs are very confused.

3.5m is way too high. For an effective face shot try 6-7 feet 1.8-2.1m approx. If you worried about vandalism, that's why it suggested above you place 2 cameras, 1 either side of the wall so their views cross each other. That way if someone attacks 1 camera, the other captures them and you have evidence of vandalism. At 3.5m if someone keeps their head down or wears a cap, you'll get nothing.

Experience says the ghosting effect is a combination of too much gain and too slow a shutter which in itself is usually a consequence of too little light and / or too insensitive a camera. The light issue is easily fixed with a bright sensor activated LED floodlight (daylight temperature ie 6000-6500K), although this also depends on the ability of your camera to adapt rapidly to a change in lighting. Cameras used to be slow adapting. Now they're fast, but given the cheap nature of the camera, it probably isn't using the latest tech and so may not adapt quickly to changes in light. Even with a powerful floodlight the ability may still; be limited. For max identification ability, colour is best at night but you need a really good camera to be able to run colour as colour cameras need more light or gathering ability.

Thanks for Your advice. The real question with my personal case is how can a "little shitty guy" know all theese things. I suppose that also a geek of pc need time to do some kind of attack to spy password and connect to camera. What does he gain from all this time consuming activity ??? I really don' t understand. If he is smart enough to do this use the skills for a job and a more interesting wage. Absurd !

 

[wittaj]

Hi Vittaj,

tahnks for the story. Now You really scary me ! How can I use the ipcam not connected to router ?

Most of us here do not have our cameras connected to the internet.

You put it on its own VLAN or separate system and then OpenVPN back into your system to be able to see it when remote.

How to Secure Your Network (Don't Get Hacked!)

Many camera networks are unsecure, even those installed by professionals. This guide gives basic instruction in how to secure a camera network from the most common types of attacks. Perhaps the most important rule of securing a computer network is to not forward ports to unsecure services...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Cash1972]

Hi to all !

I' ve attached an update taken from a haunting camera instead of an ip camera. This device is powered by internal batteries, is not connected to the grid, has no wifi or cable connection. Use a pir for trigger, with high sensitivity. Look at the cat, image 475. The man in theese picture is me.

Now during the time with this device installed I have found many stains from a pair of gym-shoes on the cover on my car.

I really cannot understand how this guy can do such a thing. If it is so smart it is also so stupid.

On internet I found some really strange devices called jammers that seems to be able to stop every kind of electric device using 2,4 ghz like wifi is.

But seems to have no effect on cable or stand-alone device like my ip cam and haunting cam. I can exclude some power failure because ip cam are under ups and haunting has it' s own battery.

There' s some of You with a so strange experience like mine ?

Is the jammer the tools used by the moron ?

 

[wittaj]

Like we said, even if you hard-wired it, that is a cheap wifi cam so it could still be allowing access to it via wifi even if you are hardwired and could be jammed.

It is a cheap cam so it might not be a real good PIR or it is only good so many feet but your camera is too high so the effective range is lost just in vertical distance.

You are out there with a flashlight.

Go out there with no light and in all dark grey clothing. You may then blend into the surroundings and that is how that person could be getting past.

The camera probably doesn't allow you to set parameters to try to reduce the chances that someone in certain color clothing could pass by without being triggered.

Get a real camera and record 24/7 so that you don't miss an event!

 

[CCTVCam]

Looks like someone with a grudge. However straight away this shows your cameras weeknesses. You'll never get a good facial shot out of that as it's too wide an angle. Once zooemd in it will just be fuzziness. Not a great night pic anyway.

I would recomend in that situation either a 6.5 ft camera mounted looking either straight at the car (so you can see both side) that is zoomed quite tightly onto the car area (suggest a varifocal lens model to help with this) or better still, 2 cameras, 1 replacing the existing camera at the same location to give an over view and the other as previously described, (the advantage of an overview camera here is you can see everything apart from the back) and a tightly zoomed camera for facial capture as mentioned previously mounted slightly to the left of the car to give coverage of the left. whilst still capturing the faceif onthe right. That way the overview camera covers the right side fpr damage, the facial camera the left for damage and face on the right. I'd only have the camera slightly off centre so you can see down the left side but sitll still maximise view to the right. Such a camera will porbably capture people entering the gate as well before they get to the car although it's debateable whether the distance will be such as to make a close face shot unrecognisable. Just what I would do. Others may disagree. For cameras see the recommended list and current favourties in the hot topics on here - currently a Dahua / Hik large chip size 4mp and an older 5442 2mp maybe for overview unless you can afford have sufficient light for one of the formers ahere as well.

 

[looney2ns]

Looks like someone with a grudge. However straight away this shows your cameras weeknesses. You'll never get a good facial shot out of that as it's too wide an angle. Once zooemd in it will just be fuzziness. Not a great night pic anyway.

I would recomend in that situation either a 6.5 ft camera mounted looking either straight at the car (so you can see both side) that is zoomed quite tightly onto the car area (suggest a varifocal lens model to help with this) or better still, 2 cameras, 1 replacing the existing camera at the same location to give an over view and the other as previously described, (the advantage of an overview camera here is you can see everything apart from the back) and a tightly zoomed camera for facial capture as mentioned previously mounted slightly to the left of the car to give coverage of the left. whilst still capturing the faceif onthe right. That way the overview camera covers the right side fpr damage, the facial camera the left for damage and face on the right. I'd only have the camera slightly off centre so you can see down the left side but sitll still maximise view to the right. Such a camera will porbably capture people entering the gate as well before they get to the car although it's debateable whether the distance will be such as to make a close face shot unrecognisable. Just what I would do. Others may disagree. For cameras see the recommended list and current favourties in the hot topics on here - currently a Dahua / Hik large chip size 4mp and an older 5442 2mp maybe for overview unless you can afford have sufficient light for one of the formers ahere as well.

All 5442 model cams are 4mp, none are 2mp.

Camera list:

 

[NightLife]

Well you know his schedule, so you can just sit there at night waiting, DSLR camera in hand if all you want is proof. Or you can kick it old school and set up a game camera, like hunters use. Might be good to ensure it has black LED's - that type of LED lighting is far less visible when it activates.



Next, grab some flex cuffs, a bottle of brake cleaner, a fillet knife and a blow torch.



Happy hunting.