Anyone using a Wyze Cam?

[julian]

@omega said:

Caveat emptor

Indeed! That's what I'm learning as I attempt to flash this new firmware... technologically-inclined as I am, I can't seem to get the darn bootloader installed!

It seems Wyze took some steps to actually lock down the camera. It's really pathetic that a company like that would spend resources locking people out, but won't spend a dime on actually ensuring they have a secure product.

[gotwf]

@julian This is actually more typical than atypical. Live and learn.

Oh yeah, as technically uninclined as many/most who buy these things are... how many cam bot nets do ya' figure are out there, eh?

OTOH, it likely doesn't matter in contrast to smartphones and apps such as Facebook. Which are pretty much ubiquitous. Go figure.

Edward Snowden: How Your Cell Phone Spies on You

Edward Snowden: "I Remove It Before Using The Phone!"

[julian]

@gotwf it was always a pipe dream that I'd manage to hack a cheap (relatively) camera and use it with something like Zoneminder.

I guess I'll have to actually buy a dedicated camera meant for this sort of usage.

[gotwf]

@julian Nice dream. Maybe doable yet. I am not too knowledgeable when it comes to surveillance cams. Maybe additional research will bear fruit?

[omega]

I've just remembered something, I think Pi Raspberry may be the way to go for hardware camera. I had a link ages ago. I'll see if I can dig it out... actually hang on a quick search:

Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Camera

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use and connect a camera to Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. Brief overview Raspberry Pi Camera v2.1 is equipped with a 8

Raspberry PI Projects (projects-raspberry.com)

I woudl have thought Raspberry Pi woudl be rightup your street @julian and anyone who is Linux savvy and so forth.

Ah, when the people can fab their own silicon on demand or similar (whatever iteration is next, still waiting for light based circuits on chip!) - I think something interesting may happen to allow that in a way no one was expecting exactly, I do love a good techno curve ball in the hands of some garage band kids or whatnot, could be anywhere now on the planet at this point, more instances than just one occurrence too, or one might hope, a scenario where many novel solutions all equally super brilliant suddenly burst forth!

[julian]

@omega Ha! That's funny, since I actually have an OG RPi, the v2, and a v3 just sitting around...

I see some peripheral purchases in the near future...

[gotwf]

fwiw, CISA released a security advisory for Wyze w/in the past few days. Tried searching my inbox but... Man, ho man!! Too many advisories to even begin to keep track of since WWIII Cyber Warfare Games.

On related note, Chome fans really, really need to ensure their browser is updated. But I digress...

[julian]

@gotwf Yeah I know about that one... it's the zero day that Wyze has been dragging their feet on for months.

It's the impetus for me starting this topic, actually.

[jerrileeh]

@julian I heard that you can find better if you search a bit

[julian]

@jerrileeh Might just end up playing around with a Raspberry Pi camera