Camera security at home with free software
Hello all,
I have been thinking about getting a security camera to protect my house. At first I thought about using a wifi IP cam, there are a lot of them and they are cheap. However I am worried about them not working with GNU/Linux and requiring specific proprietary software. Other than that, even worse, the fact that I don't know if the camera has good security or a hacker who gets network access will get access to the camera images.
On a second thought I wanted to use an old smartphone that I have, it has CM 7 I believe, and it has a good camera. BUT the touch screen is not working.
So my questions are:
1. Any recomendation for a good camera that works with free software and has good security?
2. How can I get my input access to the smartphone? I thought using a usb otg cable to use an external mouse and keyboard but I think CM7 has no support for those. Any chance I can connect it to the computer and input from there?
Thank you all for the help.
You should read the articles that Matthew Garrett posts. https://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/
And, from reading what he posts, you should totally expect all embedded thing to have security holes (huge, major ones) that the manufacturer completely and totally ignores.
Or in other words: Don't get your hopes up about security.
name at domain wrote:
> I have been thinking about getting a security camera to protect my house.
> At first I thought about using a wifi IP cam, there are a lot of them and
> they are cheap. However I am worried about them not working with GNU/Linux
> and requiring specific proprietary software. Other than that, even worse,
> the fact that I don't know if the camera has good security or a hacker who
> gets network access will get access to the camera images.
Given how poor the security is with standalone Internet-capable devices,
you'd probably do better to get one or more USB webcams and connect them to
a small computer which can route the webcam data to storage you control.
You'd also be able to pick webcams that work with a fully-free OS as well
as a fully-free (or as free as any system can be made now) system. If I
recall correctly, years ago someone spent a lot of time figuring out how
many webcams work and wrote software to run them.
Try using Zoneminder. It is in the repos and you can use capture cards with analog cams or IP cams that offer rtsp streams. I've run a few systems this way.
Thanks everyone.
The stuff GNUUU suggested seems nice but pricy... As for usb cameras it will be hard to use with a long extension (I don't think usb camera witll work with a 10m cable). Thanks for the info jxself. I was wondering the same thing.
So, best option so far, how to input commands into an old smartphone with no touch? OTG is off limits because the android version doesnt support it.
Thanks.