Door phone, camera or alarm: what to buy first for a flat
For flat owners on a budget, one device is often enough to start. How the three compare and which suits which home.
Can someone hack my cameras? A plain answer on privacy
Stories of hacked home cameras worry many customers. How it happens, how likely it is, and the settings that keep your footage yours.
Every few months a news story about hacked home cameras leads to a wave of calls. Customers ask if strangers could be watching their living room. It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that it can happen, but almost always through a few avoidable mistakes.
Most camera break-ins are not clever. They happen because the recorder still uses its factory password, often printed in the manual and known to everyone. Others happen because the recorder’s software has not been updated in years, or because a camera was set up with a weak password like a phone number. A few happen because a former employee or technician still has the login.
Here is what we do at every installation. You set the admin password yourself at handover, and we do not keep a copy. Each family member or staff member gets their own login, which you can remove at any time. We turn off features that open the recorder directly to the internet and use the maker’s app instead. We update firmware on every maintenance visit.
There are a few habits for you too. Do not share your login on WhatsApp. Change passwords when staff leave. Think carefully before putting a camera inside a bedroom or bathroom at all; most homes do not need cameras inside living areas. And point cameras at your own property, not your neighbour’s windows. Privacy matters as much as security, including other people’s.
