Intro
A security camera is supposed to make a building security much more visible thereby safer. It watches entrances, assets, and helps investigators understand what happened before and after an incident. Yet the same camera can quietly create another kind of doorway that leads attackers into the organization’s digital network. That is the uncomfortable lesson behind recent warnings and documented attacks involving internet-connected cameras.
Why an IP Camera and why does it matter?
An IP camera captures video and sends it across a computer network unlike a traditional analogue camera. Depending on the setup, it may communicate with a video management system, a recording server, cloud storage, mobile applications, web portals, or remote administrators which is a useful connectivity as it allows security teams to monitor several locations, review recordings remotely, and integrate cameras with access-control or alerting systems. But connectivity also expands the attack surface. Every enabled service, exposed management page, reused password, outdated firmware version, and unnecessary network route creates another opportunity for misuse.
The cybersecurity lens
The camera as a foothold
Cybernews reported a warning from Belgium’s cybersecurity agency that threat actors were compromising IP cameras and using them for activities that included gaining access to corporate networks, distributed denial-of-service attacks, espionage, and data theft. The warning emphasized that cameras are attractive targets because many remain continuously online, use outdated software, or continue operating after security support has ended.
A separate Kaspersky analysis described an Akira ransomware incident in which attackers, after their ransomware was detected on protected systems, identified a network video camera with severely outdated firmware. According to Kaspersky, the camera could run Linux binaries, lacked endpoint detection and response protection, and had overly permissive access to servers. The attackers used it as a foothold for encrypting organizational servers.
What data is at risk?
The obvious asset is video. Depending on where a camera is installed, footage may reveal faces, movements, entry points, working patterns, restricted areas, equipment locations, or operational routines. Credentials, configuration data, network information, and recordings stored on connected systems may also become relevant to an attacker. The greater concern is that a compromised camera may provide a path toward systems holding far more sensitive information than the camera itself.
Should Kenya be worried?
Kenyan organizations are rapidly connecting physical-security systems to ordinary business networks. Cameras are now common in offices, hospitals, schools, residential developments, retail premises and public institutions. In environments where budgets are limited, CCTV’s cameras may remain in service for many years, even after the manufacturer has stopped supplying security updates.
The practical lesson is not that organizations should abandon IP cameras. It is that camera deployments must be governed as ICT systems, not treated as isolated electrical equipment. Procurement should consider the vendor’s update policy, support period, authentication options, logging capability, and secure configuration guidance. Deployment should define who owns the device throughout its lifecycle, from installation to secure retirement.
For hospitals and other critical-service environments, the stakes are particularly high. The same compromised network may support staff operations, administrative systems, connected devices, and essential services. A camera should never receive more access simply because it sits inside the physical perimeter.
Let’s Defend Take
| The real mistake is treating a camera as “just a camera.” Once it connects to the network, it becomes part of the organization’s computing environment and must be put to check from time to time, patched, monitored, segmented, and retired with the same consideration applied to other systems. The strongest control is reducing unnecessary trust before an attacker has the chance to exploit it. |
Outro
IP cameras deliver real safety and operational benefits, but those benefits depend on secure deployment. A camera with outdated firmware, exposed services, weak credentials, or unrestricted access can undermine the very security it was purchased to provide. One key note to take from this blog is that; identify every camera and recorder connected to your network, then verify its owner, firmware status, internet exposure, and permitted communications.
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