{"id":22463,"date":"2024-03-05T17:53:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T13:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=22463"},"modified":"2024-03-05T17:53:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T13:53:43","slug":"protecting-from-wifi-camera-jamming-and-other-burglar-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/protecting-from-wifi-camera-jamming-and-other-burglar-tricks\/22463\/","title":{"rendered":"Securing home security"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, the Edina Police Department (Minneapolis, U.S.A.) issued a remarkable warning<\/a> to residents. Following the investigation of nine apartment burglaries, the police concluded that thieves were disrupting the Wi-Fi connection in the apartments. They did this to prevent the home\u2019s smart surveillance cameras from alerting the owners of the danger and transmitting video to them. Is such a technologically advanced burglary really possible? It is. Are there other ways to attack smart-home security systems? Definitely. What can be done about it? Great question. Let\u2019s find out!\u2026<\/p>\n

Defenseless defenders<\/h2>\n

Protection devices \u2014 whether they be locks, cameras, alarms, or anything else \u2014 should, in theory, be completely secure against any kind of hostile action. After all, they could be deliberately targeted by attackers hoping to break in! Unfortunately, in practice, manufacturers are not always prudent. They make various mistakes: in smart locks, the mechanical part is often not made reliable enough<\/a>; in cameras, video streams are transmitted openly<\/a>, allowing unauthorized persons to view or even interfere with them; and in alarms, control channels are poorly protected<\/a>. This is in addition to other smart-home vulnerabilities<\/a> that we\u2019ve written about before<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s even more worrying is that many of these devices are vulnerable to two really simple attacks: power disruption and communication disruption.<\/p>\n

Home Wi-Fi can be disrupted in various ways \u2014 from crudely jamming the entire radio-wave frequency range to more specialized attacks on a specific network or Wi-Fi client. There are other ways besides messing with radio waves, too. The internet in a home is usually connected through one of four easily recognizable cables: fiber optic, telephone, twisted pair (Ethernet), or coaxial television. One can reliably disrupt the connection simply by cutting these cables.<\/p>\n

In case the entire security system relies on the power grid without backup sources, simply cutting off the power to the apartment can easily knock out the smart protection.<\/p>\n

Improving protection performance<\/h2>\n

Most of the problems described above can be dealt with. As with any security measures, none of the solutions below guarantees 100% protection, but they will significantly reduce the likelihood of a burglary.<\/p>\n

Choose the right equipment. <\/strong>All of the issues mentioned above should be considered before purchasing any security systems<\/a>. This way, you can formulate additional requirements for the equipment:<\/p>\n