Unlike Others, Arecont Vision Megapixel Cameras Cannot Be Maliciously Repurposed for Use in Cyberattacks

Cyberattacks on all network-enabled devices are growing in number and impact worldwide. Successful network intrusion, ransomware and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks via competitor cameras are increasing. However, the proprietary architecture of Arecont Vision cameras protects against this rising risk of cyberattacks.

A growing cybersecurity problem

Cybersecurity experts agree that any network-enabled device can be hacked; computers, storage devices, DVRs, NVRs, cameras, vehicles, network infrastructure or just about anything that’s network-enabled can in fact be targeted. Emerging connectivity technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things) technology brings many benefits to users, but can also increase the risk to everything on the network and beyond.

It’s becoming more widely known that computers on a network can be infected or exploited in many ways, such as through phishing spam emails, corrupted web links, malicious websites and network intrusions. It really only takes one infected device to expose and propagate an infection to others across a network to have an entire secure network bite the dust in a matter of minutes.

Infected plug-in or wireless-connected devices, such as USB thumb drives and IoT devices, can have viruses or hidden malicious code pre-installed. This is released once the device is connected. Despite virus and malware protection software and firewalls, viruses and malware continue to evolve. Vendors in the network security sector spend so much time, effort and resources in an attempt to stay on top of these emerging threats. Malicious code that has not yet been identified is much harder to stop before doing damage.

Most security cameras are no exception. Competitor cameras and DVRs/NVRs have proven just as susceptible and easy to repurpose for cyberattacks as any other device and are being increasingly used to do so. While strong password policies are a basic starting point for cybersecurity, particularly the use of 16-digit ASCII passwords, they are only one level of protection and are by no means the complete answer to cybersecurity risks.

Once a hacker or virus has gained access to a camera, they can take complete control. Passwords and network protocols (802.1x, HTTPS, etc.) are largely ineffective once the device has been compromised. At this point, the hacker or infected camera can spread malicious code, malware, ransomware, network intrusions, robotic DDoS attacks or other nefarious purposes without challenge, and render what was thought to be a secure surveillance system completely useless.

The Arecont Vision cybersecurity advantage

First in the industry, Arecont Vision offers in-house developed fifth generation Massively Parallel Image Processing (MPIP) architecture that runs exclusively on the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) integrated circuits at the core of every Arecont Vision camera. There is no use of embedded common operating systems such as Linux or Windows, which eliminates cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Arecont Vision designs and develops its own code and product capabilities, unlike competitors, meaning there’s no licensing of core code, features or chip-sets from third parties. As can be expected, third party code or chipsets can be a potential hidden cybersecurity risk.

In addition to the cybersecurity benefit, having in-house developed features and functions also allows Arecont Vision to optimise its cameras for better overall performance, which is less possible with third party code. This is part of Arecont Vision’s heritage of continued megapixel camera industry leadership.