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Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

nytimes.com

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Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#81

Post by SkyPuncher »

cortesoft wrote: post #6
drunner wrote: post #2

I mean, any security camera that does anything with the cloud should never make it onto a recommendation list in the first place. I'm not sure if the product exists, but something that replicates a homemade setup would be amazing. Think of a bundled camera(s) + raspberry pi + 1tb backup drive or whatever that you can only access over your own dedicated personal wireguard vpn (or tailscale, something like that), but s…

The market for a product that requires the buyer to setup a VPN is not going to be very large. You seriously overestimate the average tech competence of people. It needs to be something you just plug in and it works.

I'm fully capable of all of the technical stuff and have done it before.

It's just a complete pain in the ass. I have a collection of "cool, but painful to maintain" devices.

Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#83

Post by packetlost »

callalex wrote: post #75
pj_mukh wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Noob question: Is it possible to stream video to a device outside your WiFi without needing a third party server in the middle? How does one do that?

There are two ways to accomplish this: poke a hole in your home firewall and expose the camera feed to the entire open internet, then attempt to add some kind of authentication system. This is very very hard to get right, don’t do it. The other option is to tunnel your internet connection on the remote device back into your home network so it looks to your remote device like it’s still at home. That’s called a VPN.

Neither of these options are great, IMO. I'd prefer to have a proxy that transparently forwards e2e encrypted traffic with out of band key exchange. You can blast video over a 3rd party if you trust the software on either end to not leak your encryption keys. Sadly I think few services care much about this.

Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#84

Post by criddell »

dylan604 wrote: post #48
criddell wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For home security stuff? None of it will be exposed to the internet so I don't particularly care.

Do you honestly believe that a now public NSA style backdoor will never be used by anyone that is not NSA? Of course goofy script kiddies will be using this to see what cameras are seeing and then do a range of things from posting embarrassing images to the web for the lulz or up to blackmailing people. that's with less than 3 seconds of thinking about what a vuln could do for non NSA types

I think having all of this stuff behind a firewall and not exposed to the internet makes a pretty big difference. If an attacker gets onto my LAN, it's game over.

Mass produced consumer gear that is also perfectly secure probably doesn't exist. I assume everything I use has bugs and none of it will stand up to a dedicated attacker.

As for blackmail, my cameras all point outward. I suppose they could threaten to report me to the HOA when my grass gets too long...

Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#85

Post by adamredwoods »

drunner wrote: post #2

I mean, any security camera that does anything with the cloud should never make it onto a recommendation list in the first place. I'm not sure if the product exists, but something that replicates a homemade setup would be amazing. Think of a bundled camera(s) + raspberry pi + 1tb backup drive or whatever that you can only access over your own dedicated personal wireguard vpn (or tailscale, something like that), but s…

I'm confused. Wyze cameras offer cloud-free operation, storing to an SD card, is the vulnerability still there even without cloud hookup?

Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#86

Post by mistrial9 »

bootsmann wrote: post #4
drunner wrote: post #2

I mean, any security camera that does anything with the cloud should never make it onto a recommendation list in the first place. I'm not sure if the product exists, but something that replicates a homemade setup would be amazing. Think of a bundled camera(s) + raspberry pi + 1tb backup drive or whatever that you can only access over your own dedicated personal wireguard vpn (or tailscale, something like that), but s…

An IP camera that requires the customer to set-up and secure outside access themselves will not sell to end users. The market is just too small and anyone who has the skills to secure this stuff themselves doesn't have to rely on a consumer grade product.

your certainty is not based on reality.. "pet rocks" sold millions; BetaMax failed; great movies went unwatched, where stupid schlock got paid. Markets are not predictable entirely at all.

Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#87

Post by sbarre »

GauntletWizard wrote: post #7
drunner wrote: post #2

I mean, any security camera that does anything with the cloud should never make it onto a recommendation list in the first place. I'm not sure if the product exists, but something that replicates a homemade setup would be amazing. Think of a bundled camera(s) + raspberry pi + 1tb backup drive or whatever that you can only access over your own dedicated personal wireguard vpn (or tailscale, something like that), but s…

I consider offsite storage a must-have feature for surveillance equipment, because one of the prime threats is that the thieves carry off the surveillance equipment itself. With modern WiFi cameras without mounting wires and cheap plastic mounting points, that's real easy, and if you had a physical server to store the recordings it would be a target as well; the history of surveillance systems is littered with exampl…

Most thieves are smash-and-grab, and not smart or motivated enough to go seek out your NAS to take with them. Danny Ocean is not breaking into your house.

Besides, if the thieves were savvy enough to find and take your surveillance gear with them, they'd be unlikely to expose anything meaningful (like their faces) on your video feeds anyways, right?

Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#88

Post by cooper_ganglia »

PH95VuimJjqBqy wrote: post #29
cortesoft wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The market for a product that requires the buyer to setup a VPN is not going to be very large. You seriously overestimate the average tech competence of people. It needs to be something you just plug in and it works.

cloud camera's aren't that either, most require the download of an app, signing up, configuring the camera, etc. You could just as easily give local camera's the "printer" treatment, and most people are somehow able to successfully setup printers on their PC's.

Wyze camera setup is pretty straightforward. Add a camera in the app, it opens a QR code on the phone screen, and you just scan that with the Wyze cam. It seems fool-proof.

With that being said, I did still have to setup the Wyze cameras for my 50 year old tech-inclined dad, haha.

Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#89

Post by weeblewobble »

pj_mukh wrote: post #31
drunner wrote: post #2

I mean, any security camera that does anything with the cloud should never make it onto a recommendation list in the first place. I'm not sure if the product exists, but something that replicates a homemade setup would be amazing. Think of a bundled camera(s) + raspberry pi + 1tb backup drive or whatever that you can only access over your own dedicated personal wireguard vpn (or tailscale, something like that), but s…

Noob question: Is it possible to stream video to a device outside your WiFi without needing a third party server in the middle? How does one do that?

What kind of device? They make IP cams that push their stream to a preconfigured remote endpoint (with TLS). It would have to be a server on the public internet though, your phone probably wouldn’t work

Re: Why We're Pulling Our Recommendation of Wyze Security Cameras

#90

Post by Freedom2 »

cortesoft wrote: post #6
drunner wrote: post #2

I mean, any security camera that does anything with the cloud should never make it onto a recommendation list in the first place. I'm not sure if the product exists, but something that replicates a homemade setup would be amazing. Think of a bundled camera(s) + raspberry pi + 1tb backup drive or whatever that you can only access over your own dedicated personal wireguard vpn (or tailscale, something like that), but s…

The market for a product that requires the buyer to setup a VPN is not going to be very large. You seriously overestimate the average tech competence of people. It needs to be something you just plug in and it works.

I disagree. I submit that you rather underestimate the tech competence of people - humankind have done far more with less resources due to ingenuity.
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