Hard wired security cameras

[Little Porch]

I am having issues with a brand new set of Montavue cameras installed around my house. They are hard wired & an NVR records video 24/7. I purchased them ($4K+) because I was told they could not be compromised.

The 20 year old that lives across the street has been harassing me for 5 years so I thought these cameras would be the end of that. He had been using a WIFI jammer on the original cameras (have proof of this). It took him 12 days to figure out how to block/jam/disable the new cameras.

There is no sign of the video stopping, just knocking on my house or moving outdoor items at all hours of the night. The cameras are static, so seems like when they are compromised the view would not change other than to not pick up trespassers.

I have read the post from May 8, 2016 concerning hard wired cameras but the situation is different. Also, got advice from local camera shop-said to use iPhone on airplane mode, which I have been doing & would have caught him a few days ago had I not forgotten to delete the previous night's 7 hour video; the phone memory ran out. The next night he spotted the iPhone.

Anyone have any idea how he is doing this? I already have the "you are crazy" answer, am hoping for a more technical, hardware related answer.
Thanks for any help!

 

[dick_freebird]

There's "hard wired" and there's "hard wired". Some
security systems use wires for power but WiFi for
signal. Especially the "easy setup, no drilling" kind.

If these were PoE cameras that send video back
on Cat5 in digital form, that ought to be pretty
tough to attach without physical access.

Maybe what you want is another layer of "trail
cams" or some other long (maybe motion detect)
recording time, no-wires operation that can be
hidden to "watch the watchers".

 

[Little Porch]

Thanks for the response. I will research what I have, my children chose it & I don't have the original invoice, however I think they are PoE.
Is there any other way to attack this system other than physical access?

Thanks again, most appreciated.

 

[betwixt]

Potentially yes there is. Without cutting into the wires there is no practical way to break in to the system and even if done momentarily it would almost certainly flag up as a 'loss of video' alert on the system. However, there may be a backdoor way in through the interface you are using to look at the video yourself. Do you have a hardwired monitor or are you in any way using a network connection or viewing through a device that has a network connection? It is possible to 'tunnel' through an unsecured network to find connected devices and potentially compromise them.

Brian.

 

[Little Porch]

The NVR is hard wired to the monitor from which I watch the recorded playback.
I was using my iPhone to watch playback but have disconnected the NVR from the router, so I no longer have that capability unless I reconnect it.

Last night I set up my personal iPhone to record, which I have done a couple of times, and when I checked it this morning it had a 'suspension' message and the video had stopped. I realized I forgot to put it in airplane mode. The other 2 iPhones (old refurbished) had a full 7 hours of recording, but no joy. Any thoughts about this?

Not sure if I answered the questions properly?
Thanks for the response.

 

[dpr3]

It's also worth considering if there's any way he could be interfering with the power supply to the cameras, although that would likely result in a complete loss of video. Given his previous use of a Wi-Fi jammer, he clearly possesses some technical aptitude.

 

[Little Porch]

I agree. It does not look like the power supply has been altered because there is no obvious missing footage. And why would they fix it after disconnecting except to gaslight.

I have started another layer of surveillance, as the first response suggested although I am using iPhones. I have not had much luck with trail cams in that I did not realize there is a data card limit (my trail cams are now 5 years old) & I believe my placement is poor. Also have trouble customizing the timing, etc.

The iPhones have worked but they run out of space with each recording, even when I delete the huge video (7 hours) under 'General' 'iPhone Storage', that is, permanently delete, some GB seem to be used and not retrievable. A factory reset did not help. Any ideas?

Maybe there is an old fashioned or re-designed video camera I could use, no wifi? The iPhones are too expensive to replace, although just having it in the window may be enough discouragement. They have not been here the last 3 nights, no idea why.

Another oddity - I hid 2 Reolink cameras, 1 underneath a concrete toad house lawn ornament, the other in a pile of bricks. This seems to be keeping them from that side of the house, however, these are the wifi cameras they have successfully jammed. Can they not jam them because they are inside dense material?
Thanks for all the thoughts on this. I sleep in the LR now in hopes of being close enough to the door to catch them.

 

[vfone]

A WiFi camera that have an internal memory SD card and is permanently connected to a 12V source (plug-in or solar), could be wireless jammed, could burn its internal WiFi module, but it will still record without problems. The only thing that have to do to see what was recorded (without using WiFi and apps), have to take the memory SD card from the camera and put in your PC and visualize the recordings using a video player program.
You can use its WiFi until you see this was jammed, and then just take the memory SD card from the camera and see what was recorded during the jamming.
This option of surveillance camera, where all the recordings are done in a single independent device, is even safer than a DVR+cables+cameras.