How to secure your CCTV system against hacking and data leaks:
best cybersecurity practices for 2025

Your video surveillance system is the eyes of your business or home. But what if someone else is controlling those eyes besides you? In 2025, camera hacking isn’t a plot for a spy movie — it’s everyday reality. Intruders look for vulnerabilities not just to spy, but to steal data, plan robberies, or use your own cameras to launch DDoS attacks.

Modern video surveillance solutions — such as Xeoma — enhance protection through thoughtful architecture and built-in cybersecurity tools. However, even the most reliable software requires correct configuration and adherence to basic principles of digital hygiene.

The good news: most successful hacks could be avoided by following clear cybersecurity hygiene rules. In this article, we’ll break down all levels of protection — from password selection to network architecture — so you can sleep peacefully knowing your surveillance is well-protected.

Contents:

• What threats is your video surveillance facing?
• Chapter 1. Security foundation — physical and network level
• Chapter 2. Digital door keys — passwords, encryption and protocols
• Chapter 3. Software and regular maintenance
• Chapter 4. Protection against internal threats and human factor
• Intelligent protection and Xeoma capabilities
• Conclusion. Security as a system
• Checklist: Secure your video surveillance
• FAQ: Frequently asked questions about video surveillance security

Before moving to protection methods, let’s clearly identify the enemy. Main cyber threats for video surveillance systems fall into three key categories:

1. Unauthorized access (hacking). Unauthorized system penetration to gain access to video streams, camera control, or settings. Used for espionage, extortion, or collecting confidential data. Consequences:
   • Direct espionage: an intruder monitors activities in your home or office in real time.
   • Video stream substitution: a hacker injects fake video into the system, replacing the camera’s actual feed. This is especially dangerous for secured facilities — the screen may display a “normal” picture while a real intrusion is taking place.
   • Archive theft: an intruder downloads past recordings to study schedules, find compromising materials, or plan a robbery.
   • Settings modification: disabling recording or deleting specific archive fragments to hide evidence of a crime.
2. Data leaks. Accidental or intentional disclosure of video archives, login credentials, IP addresses, and camera configurations to third parties. Causes:
   • Configuration errors: for example, a video stream being broadcast to the open Internet without a password.
   • Software vulnerabilities that allow data interception, authentication bypass, or malicious code injection.
   • Actions by an insider with access to the surveillance system, who knowingly or unknowingly shares data, copies video archives to unsecured storage, or modifies security settings.
3. DDoS attacks. Mass attacks on the system aimed at disabling it. Cameras infected with malicious code (as in the case of the Mirai botnet) can themselves become attack tools. Your camera is used as “cannon fodder” to attack other websites and services, and you might not even notice the drop in your network’s performance. Thus, camera security isn’t just about owner confidentiality — it’s about their contribution to overall Internet hygiene.

Understanding these threats helps you approach each protection stage more consciously.
 

Protection starts not in surveillance software settings, but much earlier.

1. Hardware protection: where you place your cameras

• Physical access = full access. Place cameras and recorders in locations that prevent easy physical contact. Intruders shouldn’t be able to unplug cables, press Reset buttons, or connect directly. Use vandal-proof housings and backup power to maintain control during outages or power failures. Install servers and video storage in access-controlled rooms.
• Default passwords are dangerous. Immediately change all default passwords (admin/12345) when first connecting any camera or recorder — they cause 80% of successful hacks.

2. Creating a “digital fortress”: network segmentation

This is the most effective protection method. Reliable network architecture is key to system resilience.

Create a separate guest network (or VLAN) in your router exclusively for surveillance cameras. Even if a hacker breaches one camera, they can’t reach your main network with computers, phones, and financial data. It’s like building a fireproof safe inside a room.

3. Don’t leave vulnerabilities unaddressed

• Use VPN for external access. This eliminates the possibility of unauthorized connections through open ports.
• Disable unnecessary services (UPnP).

  UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) is a set of networking protocols that allows network devices (such as cameras, gaming consoles, printers) to automatically discover each other on the network and establish connections without user involvement. Unfortunately, this “convenient” feature doesn’t verify who’s actually knocking at the door. An intruder or malware that has penetrated your network can trick the router into “automatically” opening ports for external access to your cameras. Therefore, it’s recommended to always disable UPnP in your router settings and configure access manually through VPN.

Minimizing the number of open protocols reduces the attack surface.

4. Firewall — your best friend

Configure router firewall rules on your router to block all outgoing internet traffic from cameras except what’s truly necessary. Cameras shouldn’t “phone home” without your knowledge.
 

1. Password policy: your shield

• Complexity and length. Your password should be at least 12 characters long and include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters (for instance, «?», «!», «_»). Avoid simple sequences and dictionary words. The more complex the password, the harder it is for an intruder to guess or crack. Use password managers (KeePass, Bitwarden) to handle complex passwords. This eliminates the need to memorize them and allows you to generate truly random and unique combinations for each device.
• Uniqueness. Do not use the same password for your surveillance system, email, and social media accounts.
• Change passwords when employees with system access leave the company.

2. Encryption: prevent video stream interception

Ensure your system supports and uses end-to-end encryption. This means the video stream is encrypted at the camera and decrypted only at your recorder or in your surveillance software. Even if data is intercepted on the network, an intruder will see only useless “garbage.” Using SSL/TLS and HTTPS standards protects data during transmission, while full archive encryption prevents access even if disks are stolen.

3. Choosing the right protocols

RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) is the primary, most common method for video transmission between cameras and software. It is used by virtually all hardware and surveillance system manufacturers. Although RTSP itself doesn’t include built-in encryption (unlike RTSPS), system security isn’t compromised if other protection layers — network, router, and software — are properly configured.

• Priority #1 — network perimeter protection. This is the most effective method. If you’ve followed the recommendations from Chapter 1 and isolated cameras in a separate network (VLAN), the risk of RTSP stream interception is minimized since the intruder simply cannot access this network segment.
• Control channel encryption. While video streams use RTSP within protected networks, all system management, authentication, and metadata transfer must be encrypted.

  How this is implemented in Xeoma

  Xeoma takes a comprehensive approach. While working with universal RTSP protocol for maximum compatibility with thousands of camera models, it uses secure TLS connections for data transfer between server and clients, ensuring video streams and control elements are accessed through encrypted channels. This solution provides reliable protection against data interception while balancing security and system compatibility.

• Informed equipment selection. Secure protocols like RTSPS (RTSP over SSL) exist, but finding cameras with RTSPS support is challenging: they are rare, expensive, and require increased computing power, which isn’t always justified. Therefore, in practice, it’s much more important and effective to create a secure network environment than to search for cameras with specialized and expensive traffic encryption features.

 

Security is an ongoing process, not a one-time action.

• Regular firmware and software updates. Camera and software manufacturers constantly release updates that patch discovered vulnerabilities. Enable automatic updates or regularly check for them manually. Outdated firmware is an open door for hackers.
• Backup and monitoring. Regularly save archive copies of recordings to external media or cloud storage protected with two-factor authentication.
• Maintain system access logs. Configure alerts for suspicious activity: multiple failed login attempts, access during non-working hours, attempts to change settings.

 

Technology is powerless if humans leave “doors unlocked.”

• Employee training. Conduct basic security training for staff about phishing attacks (when emails with “important updates” contain malicious links) and password creation rules.
• Countering social engineering. An attacker might call pretending to be from your internet provider’s technical support and ask you to “verify” your router password. Teach employees to never disclose passwords to anyone.
• Access control. Promptly revoke access rights from dismissed employees. Don’t give all staff full system access. Create user accounts with different permission levels: one user can only view live footage, another can access archives, and only the administrator can change settings.
• Security audits. Periodically check your system for vulnerabilities or hire specialists to do so. Use logging systems (maintaining event logs) to promptly detect hacking attempts and respond before data loss occurs.

 

 

There’s no single “magic switch” to make your surveillance invulnerable. Security is a set of measures — layered protection where each level backs up the previous one. Only a comprehensive approach — from physical protection to encryption, network segmentation, and thoughtful software solutions like Xeoma — creates truly reliable, threat-resistant systems.

Investing time in security today protects not just video streams — it safeguards your privacy, commercial secrets, and material assets.

 

FAQ: Frequently asked questions about video surveillance security

Question 1. Can my camera be hacked if I haven’t opened its ports?

If your camera is connected only to a local network and doesn’t access the Internet, the risk is minimal. However, you should still consider “internal” threats — infected devices within your own network. Network segmentation and TLS encryption between the client and server — as implemented in Xeoma — help protect against such risks.

Question 2. Why should I disable UPnP if everything is working fine?

Because “working fine” is convenient not only for you but also for hackers. UPnP exposes information about devices on your network and allows them to connect automatically. Unless you administrate a large IT infrastructure, it’s safer to disable these services entirely.

Question 3. Is a strong password enough to secure my camera?

No. A password is only the first barrier. Real security comes from combining network isolation, regular updates, encryption, and access control. It’s also important to use reliable software that supports these functions — such as Xeoma.

Question 4. How often should I change my video surveillance passwords?

There’s no need to change complex, unique passwords every 30 days unless suspicious activity is detected. The key steps are to replace all default passwords during setup, use secure combinations, and always change them when employees with access leave the company.

Question 5. How often should I perform a security audit?

At least once every six months, and quarterly for systems with external access. Check event logs, firmware updates, and ensure passwords are up to date. It might take only a few hours, but it saves a lot of stress and money.

Question 6. I use a cloud-based video surveillance service. Do I still need to worry about security?

Absolutely. A cloud service transfers part of the responsibility to the provider, but your local network and passwords remain your own responsibility. If your cloud account password is weak or your Wi‑Fi network is unprotected, hackers can still access your cameras. Moreover, while cloud services are convenient, they’re not always transparent about who can access your data. If full autonomy and control are your priorities, choose locally operating solutions — Xeoma can function securely even without Internet access.

Question 7. Is it possible to set up secure video surveillance without knowing anything about networks or VLANs?

Yes, a basic level of protection is available to everyone. Start with the essentials: change all default passwords on cameras and routers, disable UPnP in your router’s settings, and set up VPN for remote access (most modern routers make this possible in just a few clicks). These three steps alone can protect you from 90% of common attacks.

Question 8. Does a video surveillance system have to be connected to the Internet?

No — in fact, that’s one of the most secure setups. Software like Xeoma can operate entirely within a standalone local network. You lose remote viewing, but your system becomes 100% protected from external cyberattacks. This is the ideal solution for facilities where maximum confidentiality is required.

Question 9. What should I do if I suspect that my system has already been hacked?

1. Disconnect the system from the Internet immediately — unplug the WAN cable from the router.
2. Change all passwords — for the router, Wi‑Fi, each camera, and software accounts.
3. Perform an audit: check event logs and the list of connected devices in your router.
4. Reset all cameras and the router to factory settings and reconfigure the system following the security rules described in this article.

P.S. Ready to build a professional security system you can trust? Xeoma provides not only advanced analytics but a full arsenal of data protection tools. Download the Trial version and see how easily you can create not just a surveillance system, but a true digital fortress. Ready to start full-scale work? Choose the right license.

November 24, 2025
 

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