The Consumer Council has called on manufacturers of home surveillance cameras to enhance the cybersecurity of their products, after testing ten of them and finding that only one complied with European security standards.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Victor Lui, vice-chairman of the council’s research and testing committee, said nine of the models posted various cyber security concerns, including transmission of videos and data without encryption and failure to defend against “brute-force attacks” by hackers to crack passwords.

Lui said there was inadequate protection for users’ data for many of the spy camera apps, noting that half of them were able to access the files stored in the users’ mobile devices, while some asked for excessive permissions.

The ten models tested were priced between HK$269 and HK$1,888, and all of them provided functions like two-way audio, motion detection, night vision and voice control.

The council’s chief executive, Gilly Wong, said the manufacturers should be responsible for ensuring the safety of their cameras and apps.

“For a highly secured device, it requires very good design, making sure it can pass through the tests on different standards. And also, they have to put forward good enough information for consumers to make the choice and also to teach them how to protect themselves,” Wong said.

“Based on the not-so-satisfactory outcome of this test, the manufacturers have to take immediate action to improve their products.”

IT sector lawmaker Duncan Chiu said it would be difficult to regulate manufacturers as many of them are based outside of Hong Kong.

He said he supports making hacking a criminal offence.

"The Law Reform Commission has done a consultation on new cybercrimes. I think the commission should table it to the Legislative Council soon to have these new regulations passed," Chiu said.

"The Privacy Ordinance will only sentence people if they steal other people's spy camera video and share it online. But the (new) cybercrimes can penalise people if they simply hack into other's premises."

Lui, meanwhile, said there are things that users can do to better protect themselves.

“We can consider using stronger passwords and change our passwords regularly. Another tip is that we can avoid using public wifi and consider using firewall or some network monitoring system, and also limit the use of home surveillance system and only use it when necessary,” he said.

The watchdog also urged the SAR government to make reference to overseas standards and legislation over “Internet of Things devices”.
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Last updated: 2023-03-15 HKT 22:23