Over 800,000 exposed surveillance cameras in Vietnam spark privacy concerns

When announcing the draft of the National Technical Regulation on Basic Information Security Requirements for IP Cameras in Vietnam earlier this week, the ministry reported that its system had detected over 800,000 surveillance cameras in Vietnam publicly sharing image data as of May.

Since 2014, there has been a website that allowed access to more than 700,000 surveillance cameras worldwide, including thousands in Vietnam.

The image data is even traded, especially from cameras installed in sensitive locations like bedrooms, changing rooms and spa shops. On Facebook and Telegram, many groups advertise access to live cameras for relatively cheap.

For example, as advertised on social media, a service priced at VND800,000 (US$32) allows buyers to access 15 cameras, with the provider claiming to have "hundreds of thousands of options for buyers", indicating that a significant number of cameras are under unauthorized control.

Images from a surveillance camera are shared publicly on a website. Photo by VnExpress/Luu Quy

The Ministry of Information and Communications said in the draft that over the past five years, Vietnam imported approximately 16 million surveillance cameras of various types, with 96.3% from China, citing data from the General Department of Customs.

Experts view surveillance cameras as computers equipped with full processors, internet connectivity, and capabilities like hearing, seeing and analyzing when integrated with AI, yet without the high technical standards required for computers operating in Vietnam.

These devices often work 24/7 in areas inaccessible to humans, making a compromised camera potentially more dangerous than other devices by collecting information about individuals, families or organizations.

However, unlike computers, cameras are rarely patched and seldom receive virus protection updates. Vietnam also lacks safety standards for these devices.

Vu Ngoc Son, head of the research, counsel, technology development and international cooperation from the National Cybersecurity Association, said that several factors contribute to camera breaches, commonly due to users not changing passwords upon installation, using weak passwords or setting the same password across different accounts.

"Additionally, many cameras have security vulnerabilities that are not updated, and manufacturer servers may have flaws that allow hackers to attack and infiltrate. Some companies installing cameras for multiple users fail to set strict access controls, allowing outsiders high-level access," he said.

Son stated that compromised cameras can lead to severe consequences.

"They infringe on privacy, allow remote monitoring, enable blackmail with private images, create deepfake scams or act as a springboard for hackers to attack other systems within the network," he added."Camera standards are crucial to provide a regulatory framework for manufacturers and service providers in Vietnam."

The Ministry of Information and Communications assesses that safety and security issues related to surveillance cameras have become a pressing concern, with many incidents of personal information leakage and unauthorized collection of private camera footage being posted online, causing insecurity for users and impacting public safety and security.

Additionally, of the more than 800,000 compromised cameras on the internet, about 45% have security weaknesses and vulnerabilities that are easy to exploit for attacks and unauthorized control, it said.

The latest statistics show that 5% of IP addresses in dangerous botnets originate from malware-infected cameras.

As Vietnam pushes forward with smart city initiatives, the ministry notes that smart surveillance cameras are a foundational device category, making up the majority of implementation items. It said that in the last five years, more than 16 million surveillance cameras have been imported, the vast majority from China, whose popular brands include HikVision, Ezviz, Dahua, iMou, KBVision and Xiaomi.

"It is estimated that by 2025, Vietnam will have over 20 million surveillance cameras in use, equivalent to one-fifth of the country's population. Safety and security issues related to camera devices are becoming a significant concern in society," the ministry noted.

This is also a reason to develop and issue a set of national technical regulations on basic information security for surveillance cameras, it added.

The draft will be available for public input until late October.