ip camera video security

[wayne hamilton]

hi everyone

i am very new to ip cameras so i hope you guys can help me with one or two questions thanks in advance
just to give you guys an idea what i have done the information follows.

i bought 6 hikvision 4mp 6 mm turrets ,i have installed blue iris on a virtual disc on my mac using vm fusion
and windows ten using a bridged network adapter
i am driving cameras with two 8 port poe switches with all cat 6 cables
i have created complex passwords for both router and cameras as well as for blue iris admin
i have ticked in web server page for secure connections only authentications all connections
i have set static ip address for all cameras and web server as well as the ip address of the host computer
i have port forwarding setup for remote viewing evering thing works fine.

so my question is about security

? 1 first is it worth setting up a vpn which my router has in built vpn server
2 i no the connection is secure as it is but the video stream is not ! so i think
3 have i done enough for security
4 which would you prefer vpn or stunnel
5 is port forwarding needed with vpn as i have read forward ports is not good for security is this true
6 can i put a vpn client on my iphone for remote viewing and is this worth it
7 what can i do to make this system better as far as security goes


kind regards wayne

 

[randytsuch]

1. I'm not an expert, but the recommendations from the smarter guys here are to use VPN.
I use OpenVPN as it is supported by my Asus router, and it was pretty easy to setup and get going.

2. The issue with port forwarding is that it opens a hole in your home network firewall for bad guys to get in. I think that's the bigger security issue, not that someone will steal your video feeds. But I really don't want that either.

3. No, use VPN instead of port forwarding.

4. OpenVPN I think is recommended.

5. If you use OpenVPN, you don't need to forward ports.

6. Yes, I use OpenVPN Connect. Free, and was easy to setup.

For security, I figure it's unlikely a bad guy would try to break into my home network, but in case he does, if I make it harder than the average person, he will give up after a bit and look for an easier target. You don't want to be the easier target lol.


Randy

 

[nayr]

first read the VPN Primer for Noobs

most all of this is covered already