Foscam Surveillance Security Cameras Exposed

If you own a Foscam camera(s) you may have received an email that goes like this:

Hello ,

We wanted to reach out as soon as possible to inform you of recently discovered security vulnerabilities affecting “Foscam” branded cameras manufactured by China-based Shenzhen Foscam. Foscam US has been notified of 18 security vulnerabilities that exist on cameras manufactured by Shenzhen Foscam which leave users vulnerable to hacks which allow attackers to remotely take-over cameras, live stream, download stored files and even compromise other devices located on the local network. (Source: F-Secure Report available here).

The vulnerabilities affect “Foscam” branded cameras and cameras manufactured by China-based Shenzhen Foscam only. The vulnerabilities DO NOT affect Amcrest or FDT branded cameras which are produced by a separate factory and R&D team led by US-based Amcrest (formerly Foscam US and now Amcrest), which is totally unrelated to China-based Shenzhen Foscam.

Amcrest split off from China-based Shenzhen Foscam in 2015 / 2016 due to issues relating to distribution, lack of security and quality control and thus Amcrest and FDT cameras are totally unaffected by these latest security vulnerabilities.

The models affected include the following:
Foscam R2
Foscam C1
Foscam C1 Lite
Foscam C2
Foscam FI9800
Foscam FI9826P
Foscam FI9828P
Foscam FI9851P
Foscam FI9853EP
Foscam FI9901EP
Foscam FI9903P
Foscam FI9928P

We recommend disconnecting your current Foscam branded cameras from the internet until these issues have been resolved. If you have any questions, please reach out to China-based Shenzhen Foscam directly.

Per the research and discoveries by security firm F-Secure the aforesaid video surveillance cameras manufactured by  Foscam are vulnerable to remote take-over hacks that allow attackers to:

• access and view video feeds,
• access and steal stored files,
• possibly compromise other devices connected to a local network (LAN).

Researchers at F-Secure documented numerous (18) vulnerabilities that the manufacturer has yet to fix despite being alerted to them several months ago.  The report states the security holes are likely to exist in many other camera models Foscam manufactures and sells under other brand names. Here’s the list:

• Chacon
• 7links
• Opticam
• Netis
• Turbox
• Novodio
• Ambientcam
• Nexxt
• Technaxx
• Qcam
• Ivue
• Ebode
• Sab
• Thomson

What to do?

Per Foscam’s recommendations you can:

• Disconnect your current Foscam branded cameras from the internet until this issue is resolved
• Make sure your camera has the latest firmware installed for your specific camera model. The latest firmware for Foscam cameras utilizes protection against various types of online hacking and unauthorized access. You can download the latest firmware at http://www.foscam.us/firmware.html (NOTE: Current firmware does not address the 18 vulnerabilities discovered in June 2017, we currently recommend disconnecting your cameras from the internet until these issues are resolved
• Change both the default username and password and use strong passwords

We recommend that you disable UPNP on the firewall/router and if you need to access your camera from outside of your network, use VPN service.