Playing It Straight
Securing IP surveillance systems with unidirectional connectivity
- By Lior Frenkel
- Mar 03, 2008
In the hit movie “Ocean’s 11,” Daniel
Ocean and his crew succeed in robbing
$160 million from the Bellagio
casino. Ocean’s crew carries out that
task by using a wide range of swindling
skills and top-notch technological capabilities,
not the least of which involves
breaking into the casino’s video surveillance
system. In the movie, the crew’s
computer wiz physically taps into the
system from the casino’s own server
room.
In reality, the task is actually much
simpler when dealing with IP surveillance
systems. One merely needs to gain
access to a surveillance camera and connect
a laptop in its place. This provides
the hacker with access to the entire surveillance
network, allowing for a range of
malicious activities.
The Benefits of IP Surveillance
Despite the aforementioned security
risks, IP-based surveillance systems have
many benefits over analog and digital
systems. For starters, the total cost of
ownership of an IP surveillance system
can be significantly lower. IP surveillance
systems are highly scalable and allow for
greater redundancy because control and
monitoring can be shifted to other points
on the network, if necessary. IP cameras
enable on-camera automated alerting in
response to predefined events. IP-based
surveillance systems also permit
advanced and automatic analytics of
numerous video feeds to identify predefined
events, threats and fraud.
Although some analytic capabilities
are available as add-ons to analog systems,
the full technological advantages
are only available in IP networks, where
seamless integration with additional systems
provides added functionality, simplicity
and efficiency. Such advanced
analytics naturally has the effect of making
the security officer’s job easier, less
prone to human error and less costly in
manpower.
The Unguarded Guards
Despite their undisputed advantages, IP-based
surveillance systems also bring
grave risks that are lacking in analog systems.
With IP surveillance, a criminal can
gain access to a surveillance network
simply by disconnecting the LAN cable
of a camera—often located outside the
physical security perimeter or in an unattended
location—and then connecting it
to a laptop. This allows access to other
devices on the same network including
additional cameras, video servers and
gateways.
Hackers can gain access to any other
device on the network, including surveillance
servers, monitors and storage. If the
network is connected to or shared with
additional networks, hackers can gain
access to these networks as well. Thus,
they are able to cause a wide range of
damage to a casino, including blocking a
camera or a set of cameras, shutting down
an entire surveillance system, manipulating
employee access and credential information,
and changing or deleting stored
video footage. And if the surveillance
network is connected to other networks,
the hacker also has the ability to interrupt
IT systems across the casino’s IT infrastructure.
One must note that where wireless
technology—WiFi or WiMax—is used to
connect cameras in areas with no cable
infrastructure, the hacker’s task is even
easier as no physical tapping is necessary.
In “Ocean’s 11,” for example, connecting
to a surveillance camera in some remote
casino location may have been a lot simpler than tapping into the system in the
server room.
IP cameras function as a guard of the
premises and, as such, are not sufficiently
guarded themselves. Some of the cameras
are deployed outside of the casino or
in dark corners to secure not only the
main casino floor, but also its perimeter
and areas that are less visible. The critical
question is, who guards the guard?
It is important not to let these dangers
scare end users out of using an IP surveillance
system and benefiting from its
many advantages. Nevertheless, casino
managers and security officers should be
well aware of these threats and cope with
them in order to ensure the casino
remains secure.
Out of Reach
Many security products theoretically
reduce the risks introduced by IP surveillance
networks. Unfortunately, these
products, such as firewalls, content filters,
intrusion detection and prevention
systems, as well as other traditional IT
security methods, do not provide total
security for the network.
When seeking a protective solution for
a high-profile target such as a casino’s surveillance
network, end users must consider
the fact that a hacker will invest a large
amount of time, resources and money in
the attack, because the return on investment
of a successful attack is extremely
lucrative.
Unfortunately, none of the above-mentioned
solutions can provide the adequate
level of security that is required to protect
a casino surveillance network.
In real life, firewalls are hacked on a
daily basis, content filtering gateways can
be manipulated and intrusion detection
systems mainly identify known attacks.
It also is important to note that most security
systems and infrastructures suffer
from inaccurate configuration and lack
up-to-date security patches. Ideally, one
must deploy a security solution invulnerable
to standard attack technologies and
immune to software flaws, bugs and, of
course, human errors. To fully protect a
network, a foolproof and future-proof
solution is required.
A One-Way Solution
Unidirectional connection technology is
the only security solution that can provide
full protection to an IP-based surveillance
network. This solution enables
information flow from cameras to the surveillance
network, eliminates online
attacks, nullifies data leakage from the
network and prevents cross-camera hacks
while retaining the ability to control and
manage cameras.
A unidirectional connection, also
referred to as a one-way link, is a communication
system that allows data to pass
through in one direction only. In such a
system, video streams and camera metadata
can be transferred only from a camera to the casino’s surveillance network—not
vice versa.
A secure unidirectional communication
system must enforce its unidirectional
data flow by means of physical hardware
as opposed to software and other
logical methods. The system is comprised
of two hardware components that are
physically capable of communicating
with each other in one direction only.
This is accomplished by connecting the
two components by fiber-optic cable,
with the transmitting component having
only a transmitter, such as laser LED, and
the receiving unit having only a receiver,
such as a photoelectric cell. The data can
physically flow only from the transmitter
to the receiver.
To facilitate reliable data transfer over
a unidirectional medium, a unique communication
protocol must be implemented.
This protocol adds communication
reliability as another layer of security to
the system by allowing transfer of the raw
video data only, stripping it from headers
and other protocol fields that are commonly
used to facilitate malicious attacks.
Based on patent-pending technology, this
unidirectional connectivity concept is
implemented for securely transmitting
video streams in real time from IP cameras
to a casino’s surveillance network.
A small number of cameras can be
aggregated, and video feeds are transmitted
through a unidirectional link into the
surveillance network. This architecture
creates an impenetrable gateway, preventing
hackers from exploiting a camera’s
vulnerabilities. Even if a hacker obtains
physical access to a camera, he or she
will not be able to affect other cameras,
as each of them is located behind a unidirectional
gateway.
Another big advantage of a unidirectional
system is the protection of the casino’s
video surveillance system itself. It is
impossible to gain access to a surveillance
network from a camera if a unidirectional
link is in use because there is no
feedback from the network to the hacker.
The use of a unidirectional link provides
a completely safe connection to IP cameras
and other surveillance devices connected
to the casino’s surveillance network.
Unidirectional connectivity prevents
outsiders from hacking into the
casino network through a camera, manipulating
other cameras or leaking information
from the network. This allows casinos
to reap the full advantages of modern
IP surveillance systems while maintaining
full network security. Unidirectional
connectivity is indeed a foolproof and
future-proof solution.
The unidirectional link transmits data
from the cameras to the casino surveillance
network only. Therefore, it prevents
any data transmission from the surveillance
network toward the cameras. This
disables the hacker’s capability to
remotely control the cameras through the
same channel. However, the same technology
is used to allow a secure way to
remotely control the cameras from a control
station, which is separated from the
surveillance network. A unidirectional
link is deployed from the control station
directly to the cameras. This enables
commands to be sent to cameras but
leaves no inbound link to the control station
from the cameras.
This unidirectional, connectivitybased
security solution also provides
secure connections to other IP-based sensors,
such as motion and fire detectors,
access control systems and IP-based
alarm systems. The advantage of this is
the possibility of creating one secure,
integrated IT environment for all IP surveillance
systems.
The unidirectional link is hardware-based
and physically enforced. This is
something worth emphasizing, as it is this
attribute that enables the system’s security
to be foolproof and future-proof.
Firewalls, for instance, are softwarebased
and prone to remote manipulation
and circumvention. It also is important
to mention the constant publication of
security updates and patches for such
products. These evolving threats make
current technologies neither foolproof
nor future-proof.
Uncompromised Security
A secure unidirectional link is different,
mainly due to the fact that it provides
security on the physical level. It is therefore
immune to remote manipulation. The
laws of physics do not enable data to flow
in the reverse direction, naturally making
the unidirectional connection futureproof
as well as foolproof.
Unidirectional IP surveillance is
extremely cost-effective. In fact, not protecting
your IP video surveillance systems
with a unidirectional solution is tantamount
to not insuring your new car for a
penny a day.
Unidirectional connectivity is a dream
come true for casino security officers
using IP surveillance systems. It provides
the highest level of security possible
without compromising the advantages of
IP surveillance. Had the Bellagio casino
invested in unidirectional connectivity
for its IP video surveillance system,
Daniel Ocean’s plan would have
been foiled before it hatched, and
“Ocean’s 11” would
have been the shortest
movie in history.