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19 March 2024

25k connected cameras used as botnets; can your CCTV be hacked?

Published
By Joseph George

Are your CCTV cameras being used by hackers to attack other computers?

If you have purchased one from a random cameras with weak security encryptions, chances are that your CCTV could well be one among the thousands of cameras that are being used as botnets.

A US-based security firm has warned those who own Internet connected cameras, devices including the manufacturers to be aware of a serious emerging threat where hackers have hijacked IoT devices to stage attacks on other systems.

The case is being considered as the first major evidence of Internet of Things (IOT) becoming a serious security threat where hackers penetrate connected devices and use them to launch their attacks on vulnerable targets.

According to new revelations hackers first penetrated more than 25,000 connected CCTV cameras spread across 105 countries and later used them as botnets to attack their target.

The retail industry is being warned to protect their systems following the discovery, wherein an affected retailer's website was down and when security experts restored the servers, the attackers returned with more brutal force.

US based security firm Sucuri explained on its blog post  that following a DDoS attack it switched the portal's DNS to the Sucuri network and quickly mitigate the attack.

The attack was allowing the hackers to both verify a targeted host actually belongs to a retailer and also get a foothold inside the local network and move one step closer to the POS station.

"When the old fashion thieves used to physically break into stores, on their way to the cashier they had to try and avoid or neutralise any surveillance equipment. The digital thieves are entering the store through them. Truly Hollywood  material," it said.

Upon further investigation and extraction of geo-location from the IP addresses generating the DDoS, it realised the magnitude of the attack as "they were coming from all over the world, different countries and networks. A total of 25,513 unique IP addresses came within a couple of hours," it said.