Ways to secure your hybrid cloud video

Like all cloud-based video systems, a hybrid cloud solution must be set up with security in mind. Specifically, hybrid cloud security should be seen from two aspects: physical and cyber.

Needless to say, with video surveillance moving more towards IP, cybersecurity has also become a big issue. Consider the following:

• According to statistics by Trend Micro, it blocked more than five million cyberattacks against IP cameras over a five-month period. Further, the company said that the cameras didn’t have great security in place to begin with, making it relatively easy for hackers to control them remotely.
• A website called insecam.org has access to over thousands of unsecured security cameras around the world, most of which have default usernames and passwords, making them easily accessible to hacking attempts.
• According to the Unit 42 IoT Threat Report for 2020, security cameras make up only 5 percent of enterprise IoT devices, but they account for 33 percent of all security issues.

That said, securing video surveillance devices and equipment has become more urgent for end user organizations. In this sense, a hybrid cloud solution offers certain features that suit the user’s cybersecurity demand. “You’re limiting the network exposure from being a large number of individual cameras to being a single gateway. For commercial installations that require different types of cameras of different resolutions, low-light characteristics and thermal capabilities, having a number of disparate cameras from various vendors directly connected to the cloud is a cybersecurity headache. It is far more reliable to connect them to the cloud via a gateway, which can also record locally,” said Tom Buckley, Co-Founder of Qumulex.
 

Securing hybrid cloud

Yet this doesn’t mean nothing should be done for the user’s hybrid cloud security, which needs to be addressed from two aspects: physical and cyber.

In terms of physical, since hybrid cloud solutions entail a hardware gateway/storage device on-premises, it needs to be protected physically. “Hybrid cloud has all of the threats of on-prem and the threats of cloud solution combined. In terms of physical threats, there's potential theft of the on-premises equipment, and damage to the equipment,” said Danny Berkovic, SVP of Electronic Security at Securitas Australia.

“The hybrid solution is susceptible to the same issues that an on-prem system has: mainly, if the physical unit is stolen, the data recorded on it is gone as well,” said Dean Drako, Founder and CEO of Eagle Eye Networks. “The Eagle Eye Networks hybrid systems have the ability to also have cloud redundancy for both high and low resolution if that is an issue. Also, we can archive critical footage indefinitely in the cloud for permanent retention.”

Then, the hybrid cloud solution should be configured according to certain cybersecurity best practices. “Hybrid cloud video solutions should be configured locally as you would normally configure an on-premises solution. The gateway should be cybersecure, and the vendor of the hybrid cloud solution should conduct regular penetration testing,” said Buckley.

“Fully on premises, fully hosted or hybrid can all be equally secure, or equally exposed. You need to ensure that communications and data exchanges across all local and remote sites, whether on-premises and on-cloud, are live and stable. As your network expands, and new users come online, managing federated links and permissions in a centralized system requires constant, zero-trust, diligence – all part of defense in depth principles and practice,” said Laurent Villeneuve, Product Marketing Manager at Genetec. “Ultimately, as long as you implement best practices and strict policies, follow hardening guides and keep everything up to date, you’re going to maximize your security posture whatever architecture you choose."