Camera was hacked

Cameras
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The core problem with hacking is it is the user’s fault. Yes, good developers and companies will anticipate the various ways users will not be smart, and correct for this… but bottom line is if you get hacked, it’s your fault.

So how to you prevent ever being hacked? I’ve been developing software and using a computer for 37 years. Here’s my 2 cents:

  1. Use a password manager and let it assign all your passwords. You only need to remember one then. And no passwords are repeated on all your other sites then, and you can specify to make them complex and strong. BUT for your one/main password, make that one password as long as possible. Seriously, at least 16 characters. 24 is even better. And before y’all complain “I can’t remember that”… it’s not hard to take a familiar 4-character password and repeat it 4 times and vary it each time a bit, or your favorite 8-character password and repeat it 2 (or 3) times. For example… “pony” becomes “ponyPonyPONYpony”. or “Light123” becomes “Light123Light123” or “Light123Light321”. If you throw in just one special character, that’s an added security bonus and multiplies your complexity.
  2. But, it’s not the complexity that really matters, as most “experts” tell you. You DO NOT NEED special characters and all the other junk they force you to use. LENGTH of password is CRUCIAL. If you had a special-character password of 8 characters, and I had one using just normal letters but 16 characters long, your password will be hacked LONG before mine will.
  1. all of these people on the news with their Ring cameras getting hacked… it was their fault. They did not care about security AT ALL and ignorantly used some simple username and password that they’ve probably used on a hundred other sites. Don’t fall into this trap.
  2. If you are up to it, or know someone who can set it up for you… you really should think about separating all your smart devices (TV’s, cams, appliances, etc) onto a subnet for your home network. That way, in case any of them are breached (they have far less security than your phone or laptop), none of your valuable devices are compromised on the main network.
  3. At least twice a year, you should change all your passwords. If you use a password manager, this is very easy. Why? well, in case one of your smart devices was hacked, the hacker could have placed a small bot in it to expand a botnet and do some dirty work for the hacker (including constantly eating your bandwidth or probing your network to get at your personal data, or even using your resources to help them commit cybercrime!)

Moral of the story? Use a long password. Don’t repeat any passwords for any accounts you have, so use a password manager to keep track of them. Try to use different login ID’s if you can also. Enable 2-factor authentication whenever and wherever possible!

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