home security systems alarms
Madgeburg, Germany based security firm AV TEST evaluated eight popular IP cameras broadly speaking, Wi Fi dependent security cameras that communicate with mobile apps whose manufacturers ranged from D Link to Logitech to Netgear. Only three cameras were vulnerability free, and even they had room for improvement. Two of the cameras were nearly trivial to compromise, while a crafty cybercriminal could still compromise the middle three, given the right tools and expertise. MORE: Best Wireless Home Security CamerasTo evaluate each camera, AV TEST looked for potential flaws in the camera's local storage if available, external app controls, external camera controls, additional camera and app connections, encrypted connections, and storage of image and videos. The company did not give a numerical score, but instead pointed out whether each camera was category was "vulnerable," "secured" or "partially vulnerable" with regard to each category. Of the IP cameras tested, the Logitech Circle, the Myfox Security Camera and the Netgear Arlo fared the best. Each earned three out of a possible three stars from AV TEST. The company found "no noticeable vulnerabilities in the communication of the camera and app" in each camera, meaning that they're about as secure as IP cameras can get. However, AV TEST noted "optimization potential" for each camera's companion mobile app, suggesting that the user interfaces are not as user friendly as they could be. This is not a trivial issue — the more obtuse a UI, the less likely a user is to take charge of his or her own security, which could lead to vulnerabilities down the road. The D Link DCS 2132L and the Gigaset Camera scored only one star out of three, with potential vulnerabilities in just about every category tested.