Attack on Verkada video feeds leaves over 150,000 security cameras vulnerable. A large US hacker collective is claiming credit for “#OperationPanopticon.” The group behind the attack compromised the high-level administrator, Verkada, a Silicon Valley firm, which runs a platform for security systems online.
This attack on Verkada enabled them to gain access to video feeds from more than 150,000 security cameras around the country.
These Attacks on Verkada security cameras include, but are not limited to:
- Tesla
- Various Prisons
- An assortment of banks
- Schools
- More
Worse, as proof, they began posting images captured from various Verkada security camera feeds, tweeting out “ever wondered what an @Tesla warehouse looked like?” along with an image from one of Tesla’s cameras.
For their part, Verkada moved quickly, and part of the company’s initial response to the security breach reads as follows:
“We have disabled all internal administrator accounts to prevent any unauthorized access….Our internal security team and external security firm are investigating the scale and scope of this issue, and we have notified law enforcement.”
Verkada has also notified all of the firms, government agencies, and other organizations that use their services. If you happen to be one of them, then you’ve probably already received a notification from Verkada. If you’re not a Verkada customer, then there’s nothing for you to do except be aware of the fact that the incident is still under investigation.
It also underscores the potential dangers associated with outsourcing security. While something like this could have quickly happened at any individual company, the fact that Verkada has made a business of security and provides secure camera feeds and other services to a variety of clients has made them an almost irresistible target for hackers around the world.
After all, breach Tesla’s security and (assuming they handled their camera and other security in-house), you’d gain access to Tesla’s camera feeds. In this case, though, breaching Verkada’s network gave them access to literally scores of feeds across a wide range of industries and government agencies, and that is cause for concern indeed.
