DSLR Cameras Are Susceptible to Ransomware Attacks, New Research Finds

DSLR Cameras Are Susceptible to Ransomware Attacks, New Research Finds

Cameras could be high-priority targets because owners are more likely to pay to get their valuable photos back, researchers said.

  • By Haley Samsel
  • Aug 13, 2019

As ransomware scares continue to halt operations of major companies and large cities across the country, researchers have found yet another device that is vulnerable to hackers seeking payment to unlock systems: DSLR cameras.

Security researchers with Check Point Software Technologies were able to install harmful malware onto cameras if they were in close proximity to their WiFi networks or if they had already hijacked a computer through a USB drive. The report, issued on Sunday, notes that DSLR cameras are “embedded digital devices,” putting them at risk just like every other IoT device.

“Our research shows that any ‘smart’ device, in our case a DSLR camera, is susceptible to attacks,” the report reads. “The combination of price, sensitive contents, and wide-spread consumer audience makes cameras a lucrative target for attackers.”

Read more: IoT Security: Current Threats and How to Overcome Them

The team, led by researcher Eyal Itkin, demonstrated in a video how a hacker could encrypt images on a SD card and make them inaccessible to the camera’s owner through a WiFi network. Because cameras are “the guardians of our precious moments,” Itkin wrote, hackers know that the owner does not want to lose the photos and therefore is more likely to pay the ransom fee.

Canon was alerted to the vulnerability in their “picture transfer protocol” in March, and Check Point worked with the company to develop a security patch that was released last week, according to The Verge. The researchers noted that while they only worked with Canon, the protocol is “standardized” and embedded in other cameras sold by Canon’s competitors.

“Based on our results, we believe that similar vulnerabilities can be found in the PTP implementations of other vendors as well,” the report reads.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Gaining a Competitive Edge

    Ask most companies about their future technology plans and the answers will most likely include AI. Then ask how they plan to deploy it, and that is where the responses may start to vary. Every company has unique surveillance requirements that are based on market focus, scale, scope, risk tolerance, geographic area and, of course, budget. Those factors all play a role in deciding how to configure a surveillance system, and how to effectively implement technologies like AI. Read Now

  • 6 Ways Security Awareness Training Empowers Human Risk Management

    Organizations are realizing that their greatest vulnerability often comes from within – their own people. Human error remains a significant factor in cybersecurity breaches, making it imperative for organizations to address human risk effectively. As a result, security awareness training (SAT) has emerged as a cornerstone in this endeavor because it offers a multifaceted approach to managing human risk. Read Now

  • The Stage is Set

    The security industry spans the entire globe, with manufacturers, developers and suppliers on every continent (well, almost—sorry, Antarctica). That means when regulations pop up in one area, they often have a ripple effect that impacts the entire supply chain. Recent data privacy regulations like GDPR in Europe and CPRA in California made waves when they first went into effect, forcing businesses to change the way they approach data collection and storage to continue operating in those markets. Even highly specific regulations like the U.S.’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) can have international reverberations – and this growing volume of legislation has continued to affect global supply chains in a variety of different ways. Read Now

  • Access Control Technology

    As we move swiftly toward the end of 2024, the security industry is looking at the trends in play, what might be on the horizon, and how they will impact business opportunities and projections. Read Now

Most   Popular

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities 3

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3