The save log file is off by default because depending on how someone sets up their system, the log file can get rather large very quickly as it logs EVERYTHING....so one trigger on a camera could result in many log entries (logged that it triggered, log that it took an image, log that it sent an email, log that it ....) When I was demoing Sentry, my log file for that month was 67MB - that doesn't sound like a lot, but try opening up a text file that large....you wait and wait and wait and wait...and wait some more.
You can be mad at the BI software all you want but opening a port is what allows this access regardless of which program. Which is why so many here say do not open a port.
Do you really think that Arlo or Nest or Ring or Lorex or Amcrest or Nightowl or any other company that allows someone to simply scan a QR code is providing anything more secure? A wifi camera will be even worse. That is essentially what these units are doing - opening a port and making it easy to connect, probably even less secure than the way BI goes about it. At least BI basically states in the user manual what happens if you go this route. Even if it didn't create the anonymous account, the same potential access to your whole system exists. Cannot say that for any of these other companies - heck most do not even provide a manual. The end user simply says "Look honey how easy it was to set up these Arlos - I just hung it up and scanned this code and done" and they are totally unaware of what they just did to their system and the consequences of such ease of connection. That is why companies use QR codes and P2P and UpNp for the end user that simply wants an easy way to access their cameras. I showed my friend how easy it was for someone to get into their camera because they set it up with a QR code... Or we see stories of someone hacking into a baby cam or a Ring camera, or even worse, someone buys one of these types of cameras and sets it up and see not only their house but someone elses as well
BI allows for basically that same flexibility (although not as simple as a QR code) for the end user that doesn't know any better and doesn't want to deal with VLANS or dual NIC or VPNs because believe it or not, users like us are probably a small fraction of the total BI sales. The user that goes the route you did wants to just be able to get access to their cameras when away from the home, so they do not want to deal with all the steps necessary to lock down their system. And based on the number of sales and revenue of the Nest and Arlo's of the world, clearly people are either not aware or not concerned that something bad can happen by allowing one to setup their system this way. I suspect they don't care. Look at how many people didn't care that Facebook was selling their private information. People like the use of it.
And it just isn't limited to cameras and
Blue Iris. My friend set up their printer with just the QR code and someone was then printing things to their printer. How many people use default or common passwords? With this easy setup for the end user, it is bound for these type of things to happen. I do not allow WPS or anything QR code related to connect to my router - that is opening up your entire system. Is it a pain to have to key in a password for every new item - yes - but at least it helps keep the system secure. Do you allow WPS easy access for any peripherals to your system? If so you should shut those down right now.
The good news is most here probably believe you were not hacked....it sounds like you had a middle of the night blip in power and it reset your cameras and that particular computer decided to shut down and the others stayed on. But that ended up being a wake-up call for you and like you said hopefully for others that come to this site. The threat is real. Maybe the potential that it actually happens to you is low, but that doesn't mean it cannot happen.
