This is why you should never trust some other company with your own surveillance needs. There are plenty of camera + software combinations that can do TCP/IP stuff and you can tinker with it yourself and set it up on your own apache server.
I am sure someone will post with OSS software solutions.
Aside from that, how many people really need web-enabled surveillance? Just record it to HD or have it monitored live in closed-circuit fashion.
I work with IP video surveillance (among other things) for a living.
This is a good example of why you SHOULD trust some other company. Chances are that company knows more than you do about setting up a system. Choosing the right people to work with is obviously important. I wouldn't trust myself to set up an alarm system for my offices, I would hire someone who knew what they were doing.
Most of the good cameras out there have built-in webservers. Sending motion JPEG over a network from the embedded webs
Funny thing about that though. When other people start knowing your work, they also know what you miss. The company you choose may leave one seemingly insignificant hole open all the time, and someone like me will come through and exploit it in every one of their customers installations..
That's annoying for Internet stuff. That's costly for alarm systems. We'll use your office alarm system as an example. I may know that an installer doesn't thing twice about maintaince closets, bathrooms, or d
But you're making the huge assumption that you know more than a security company does about installing an alarm. If that's the case, then by all means doing it yourself is the way to go. Most people don't.
Obviously if you can do a better job yourself than another company can, you should. But it's just hubris to think that doing anything yourself will result in a better system than something professional.
I'm saying that it's security through obscurity. If they find a flaw the company does on every installation, then that same flaw will be present in my house. For example, a common passcode that disables the alarm system, or like I used in my previous example, the fact that they always skip a particular room or area. That wouldn't be present in my own installation. Home security isn't rocket science. I won't say anyone can do it, but if you really think about it, it's not very hard. What are the possible entrances? Doors, windows, access panels, and skylights. How do you want to secure them? NO and NC switches and sensors? Motion sensors? A combination of both?
Of course, I am the type of person who has done this before.
The story was about exactly this though. People trusted that these security devices were secure, but now you find that you didn't secure anything. Not only that, you've given up all your security to anyone who may stumble across your security cameras. Now I, from the comfort of my own home, through a proxy (or series of proxies) anywhere in the world, can watch your staff movements in detail, and record it all for later viewing.
Is your school, home, or business really secure, if I can see all the human traffic in the building? I may know that you don't have night security, or that they stop by 4 times a night, and at what times. I may find out that the alarms trip themselves in the rain and are ignored. I may find that you have no security and are completely dependant on the cameras. So, if I were to disable the cameras, and go in on a Friday night, by Monday morning, you may find that your business is empty..
On the other hand, if the cameras had been secured, at best I'd know that you have cameras, but have no way of knowing what they show.
Run your own surveillance (Score:2, Interesting)
I am sure someone will post with OSS software solutions.
Aside from that, how many people really need web-enabled surveillance? Just record it to HD or have it monitored live in closed-circuit fashion.
Brushfireb
Re:Run your own surveillance (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a good example of why you SHOULD trust some other company. Chances are that company knows more than you do about setting up a system. Choosing the right people to work with is obviously important. I wouldn't trust myself to set up an alarm system for my offices, I would hire someone who knew what they were doing.
Most of the good cameras out there have built-in webservers. Sending motion JPEG over a network from the embedded webs
Re:Run your own surveillance (Score:2)
Funny thing about that though. When other people start knowing your work, they also know what you miss. The company you choose may leave one seemingly insignificant hole open all the time, and someone like me will come through and exploit it in every one of their customers installations..
That's annoying for Internet stuff. That's costly for alarm systems. We'll use your office alarm system as an example. I may know that an installer doesn't thing twice about maintaince closets, bathrooms, or d
Re:Run your own surveillance (Score:2)
Obviously if you can do a better job yourself than another company can, you should. But it's just hubris to think that doing anything yourself will result in a better system than something professional.
Re:Run your own surveillance (Score:2)
I'm saying that it's security through obscurity. If they find a flaw the company does on every installation, then that same flaw will be present in my house. For example, a common passcode that disables the alarm system, or like I used in my previous example, the fact that they always skip a particular room or area. That wouldn't be present in my own installation. Home security isn't rocket science. I won't say anyone can do it, but if you really think about it, it's not very hard. What are the possible entrances? Doors, windows, access panels, and skylights. How do you want to secure them? NO and NC switches and sensors? Motion sensors? A combination of both?
Of course, I am the type of person who has done this before.
The story was about exactly this though. People trusted that these security devices were secure, but now you find that you didn't secure anything. Not only that, you've given up all your security to anyone who may stumble across your security cameras. Now I, from the comfort of my own home, through a proxy (or series of proxies) anywhere in the world, can watch your staff movements in detail, and record it all for later viewing.
Is your school, home, or business really secure, if I can see all the human traffic in the building? I may know that you don't have night security, or that they stop by 4 times a night, and at what times. I may find out that the alarms trip themselves in the rain and are ignored. I may find that you have no security and are completely dependant on the cameras. So, if I were to disable the cameras, and go in on a Friday night, by Monday morning, you may find that your business is empty..
On the other hand, if the cameras had been secured, at best I'd know that you have cameras, but have no way of knowing what they show.