Online security experts say that while home security camera systems can be
beneficial, there are also inherent risks.
In Edmonton, there
have been several incidents of thefts captured by home security cameras. The
most recent one involves a wreath that was stolen off the door of Ryan
Bruglemans’s house in Rundle Heights.
Surveillance video shows a
woman removing the decorative wreath from Bruglemans’s front door then jogging
to a vehicle with it.
“It’s a little bone-chilling to see someone come up here, to
your sidewalk, and take it right off your door,” he said.
“You shake
your head at it. It’s a little disappointing.”
Brugleman said
it was important for him to have a security system. He purchased
his house roughly a year-and-a-half ago and it came with a system in the
doorbell. He can see whoever is at his door anytime on his phone.
“It’s just
good for home security.
It’s just good to see what’s going on.”
Nick Mayes,
mobile manager of a local Best Buy store, said the chain is seeing more demand
for the systems than in years past. He also said it is growing department
within stores.
He said there
is more choice for consumers and prices have fallen over time; there’s also the
do-it-yourself aspect.
“They aren’t
much more complicated to set up than a webcam. Basically, install them where
you want. Most of them are all wireless at this point. They all run off of
battery for the vast majority of them. They just connect to your wireless
network,” he said.
“People are more interested in security. It gives them good peace of
mind, especially when you’re out of town or away from the house.
You can set them up to give you notifications when they do
detect motion or you can just monitor as you wish.”
Online
security expert David Papp agrees that the systems are convenient and portable,
but he says that comes with a cost.
“With convenience, you’re usually compromising some form of
security.”
Papp says the home security camera systems
are “fairly easy” to hack.
“These webcams
have security software updates just like any piece of software and most people
never update them. Also, the default security settings are such that it’s
really easy for you to access it, so therefore it’s easy for someone else to
figure it out,” he said.
Papp suggests
registering your system using an email address separate from your personal one
to lower the risk of personal information being hacked.
“I’d probably put it on a separate Wi-Fi network. A lot of
your home networks, you can install what they call a guest network. I would do
that so even if it were compromised, [hackers] wouldn’t have access to any of
my local files or local computers,” he said.
Earlier this
week, another Edmonton resident shared a video online appearing to show a woman
removing a package from his mailbox.
Reference: http://globalnews.ca/news/3577936/another-edmonton-theft-caught-on-camera-security-experts-warn-of-surveillance-vulnerabilities/
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