&quot;Fear Mongering&quot;: Hikvision USA Cybersecurity Director Dismisses PRC Government Ownership Concerns

IPVMU Certified

Guru Davis speciously says

Perhaps most importantly for installers, according to Davis: “Putting a camera directly on the Internet is not a good idea. I don’t care whose camera it is.”

But what about NVR’s? Are they Ok? Are they really any different from a network perspective?

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John Honovich

In reply to Undisclosed #2

IPVM

Hopefully he / they update their hardening guide which continues to recommend port forwarding to directly put devices on the Internet.

Also, it's funny, when our guys call Hikvision tech support to see what they will say about HikConnect speed / connectivity issues, each time they recommend port forwarding.

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Undisclosed #3

"each time they recommend port forwarding"

Where do I read your recommendation?

Thanks

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John Honovich

IPVM

Each time Hikvision's tech support recommends port forwarding. It's their recommendation, not ours.

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Undisclosed #3

What is your recommendation?

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John Honovich

IPVM

I don't recommend using port forwarding.

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Dennis Ruban

Don’t use hik-connect. I’m a Hik fan but I use vpn to access nvr or hikcentral. Cctv devices are blocked by FW, no cloud services enabled.

there are several rules which you have to follow if you want secure CCTV system. Any brand, not just Hik. And Hikvision becomes very interesting product in that case: secure as any else and best value for money

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Undisclosed Manufacturer #4

Don’t use Huawei phones, say heads of FBI, CIA, and NSA

It´s not Hikvision but the same issue according "security":

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Undisclosed #3

Page 212

2018_IP_Networking Book by IPVM

"Because of these reasons, manual port forwarding has proven more
reliable in commercial surveillance, with UPnP typically left to consumer
use."

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Undisclosed #1

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Undisclosed #2

IPVMU Certified

2018_IP_Networking Book by IPVM

More context shows this is a comparison of manual port mapping to UPnP, not a general endorsement of port forwarding:

However, in practice, UPnP is unreliable in many cases. In many business networks, large and small, UPnP functions are turned off, requiring manual port forwarding. In consumer use, port mappings may not function properly, may be added more than once, may conflict with other devices, or may simply not be added at all. Making things worse, error information is rarely available when UPnP port mapping fails, leaving the user without any means of troubleshooting.

Because of these reasons, manual port forwarding has proven more reliable in commercial surveillance, with UPnP typically left to consumer use.

So are you saying you think UPnP is more reliable than setting ports manually?

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Undisclosed #3

In reply to Undisclosed #2

Of course not,

I ask JH?

and I put reference from his book

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John Honovich

IPVM

#3, thank you. I am going show you how much more responsible IPVM is than your partner Hikvision.

While you have taken that out of context, I recognize that the sentence could be misinterpreted as an endorsement. Moreover, I also recognize the post that it comes from (Remote Network Access for Video Surveillance) needs to be more explicit in recommending against insecure practices. So I've immediately edited the report to do so, including these new sections:

Public Accessible Hacking Risk - UPnP, DDNS, and Port Forwarding

Using UPnP, DDNS and/or port forwarding exposes one's devices to the entire public Internet, meaning that anyone can attempt to connect and access one's device exposed (e.g., camera or recorder). Hackers can attack hundreds of millions of devices a day across the public Internet, either simply by randomly trying IP addresses or by finding lists of potentially vulnerable devices (e.g., Shodan list of Hikvision public accessible - typically port forwarded devices). For those unfamiliar with this risk, see The Atlantic's The Inevitability of Being Hacked: We built a fake web toaster, and it was compromised in an hour. More directly related to video surveillance, the massive Dahua hacking and the Hikvision IP camera hacking was driven by those devices being either port forwarded or UPnP enabled. We do not recommend making your devices publicly accessible.

And:

Recommended - VPNs

We recommend VPNs to properly secure your video surveillance devices. While port forwarding (or UPnP, DDNs, etc.) may be cheaper and simpler up front, they expose your devices to being attacked and hacked as new vulnerabilities are found. While cloud services are being improved, you run the risk of them being exploited and/or the cloud service provider accessing or abusing your system.

I am happy to update further if that helps. This will also be pushed out into an updated version of the 2018 book later today.

Now, let's compare IPVM's response to Hikvision's.

8 months ago, IPVM called out Hikvision for Hikvision's Hardening Guide Recommendation of Port Forwarding. Hikvision literally told people that the 'standard configuration' was to 'create a port forwarding rule':

5 months ago, they hired Chuck Davis. And, yet still, no change. It is still in their hardening guide and Hikvision continues to recommend port forwarding.

#3, do you think Hikvision is being responsible continuing to recommend port forwarding?

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John Honovich

IPVM

And the 2018 IP Networking Book is now updated with the above-referenced changes.

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Undisclosed #3

•Feb 25, 2018