Hikvision (Stops) Lying About Ezviz Security
By: John Honovich, Published on Mar 18, 2016Hikvision promoted the security of their directly sold Ezviz consumer line to Americans in a March 9, 2016 release.
False
It featured this false statement:
"One critical element that distinguishes EZVIZ's security measures from others is that there is no IP address for EZVIZ cameras"
However, Ezviz cameras, like the 'Mini' they showcased in the release, are IP cameras with IP addresses. This is shown by connecting Ezviz Mini to Hikvision's own software:
Mistakes Happen
Mistakes will happen to anyone. Of course, such a basic error in a publicly traded company's press release does raise competency concerns. Nonetheless, if it was simply a mistake, it should be promptly fixed.
No Fix 9 Days Later
We contacted Hikvision a week before publishing this post and again a few days prior to alert them of this, in the hope that they would fix it and issue a correction. Unfortunately, they have not.
Hikvision knows this is false and has chosen not to take action.
UPDATE: Now Fixed
March 22nd, It has now been changed to:
"One critical element that sets EZVIZ's security measures from many others is that EZVIZ does not allow customers to access the camera over the Internet by entering the camera’s IP address in web browsers"
Lying About Security
It is not clear if Hikvision choose to lie when they first released this but, even if it was then a mistake, their choice to leave as is, after knowing that it was a false statement results in Hikvision lying to the American public about their product's security.
Adapting to American Law and Way
Hikvision's Chinese government ownership may allow it to be above the law in China.
In America, Hikvision needs to follow American law. The US FTC regulates false advertising, indeed a few years ago they punished an IP camera manufacturer for their security practices. Making false statements combined their extremely poor cyber security track record is a dangerous combination.
If Hikvision really wants to do the right thing and convince Americans of their product's security, they should at least start by rectifying published falsehoods. And if that happens, we would be happy to issue an update to this.
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