Possible hack into security camera footage?

I have had a few odd things happen over the last 18 months around the outside of my family home.

Through concern and safety I installed security cameras. Whilst reviewing the footage via the security recorder a black blimp caught my eye. I rewound the footage and went frame by frame. In one frame the black blimp took the formation of an eye. To me it looks like a computer generated eye not a real eye of an animal or human. I saved that section of recording and looked into the properties. It had been modified 11 hours prior to me reviewing this footage. This security camera is linked to the internet, as far as my technical knowledge I think I have disabled access to any footage.

Is there any possibility of another person/s having access to the security recording, modifying/tampering it in some way for me to find. It is kind of symbolic - picture of an eye meaning "I see/or/watching"

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

PS: I am trying to convert the footage file so that I can provide a picture/actual footage of this bizarre. I'll keep trying.

reply to post by DonaldD


Just take a screenshot of the video, it should be very easy to do. The PrtScn key should save a screenshot to the clipboard, simply open up paint after you hit the PrtScn key and hit Ctrl+V, then save the picture some where on your computer. Then upload it to ATS pictures by going into 'Tools' then 'ATS uploads'. Then click on the image after it's uploaded and you'll see how to post it into a thread.

Why was your security camera connected to the internet anyway?

The playback programme that was part of the package does not have frame by frame on the computer. I can only access frame by frame via the TV. I can not play the saved file on windows media or vcl media.

reply to post by DonaldD


What type of file is it?

reply to post by ChaoticOrder


The file is a H 264. Found one free converter - but only did 20 sec.

You might find something at sourceforge.net

have you tried the two converters that are listed here?

www.bestshareware.net...

Just install VLC player (www.videolan.org...) and the combined community code (www.cccp-project.net...). Between the two you should be able to play almost any video format you can get your mitts on Both sites have nice big shiny "Download" buttons. Install VLC first, then CCCP.

reply to post by DonaldD


This program is open source and should be able to convert almost anything: sourceforge.net...

I will try these programmes tomorrow - a few I have downloaded doesn't do the full conversion. Frustrating!.

reply to post by DonaldD


If it is a wireless system it is indeed possible to hack into it. If it's wired it's much harder, but....if it is connected to your computer network there and you have wireless access to the network then again...it is possible.

There are actually sites that scan for open wireless cameras, and anyone can go and view them. Most of it is like local news stations who have cameras over the city or traffic cams...but pretty much anyone who has an open...non secured and non encrypted signal from a camera over a wireless network can be view without hacking even as long as your IP address is known. Or found.....

So always secure and password protect and encrypt your networks and cameras. That wont prevent all hacking if someone is really serious about doing it, but it will make it extremely difficult at times if the right encryption is used. The odds of someone taking their time to break into your home security system if it is secured and not open are rare though. Unless it's a neighbor who is screwing with you.

Someone who could break that type of encryption usually has better things to do than view your outdoor cams.

reply to post by DonaldD


Yes it is possible to hack into your recordings

BTW.,...if it's h264 format..that's also known as MPEG4. Basically Adobe flash or even iTunes should be able to play it.
If it uses the stupid MPEG2 encoding those codecs are a little harder to find now, but it sounds like you have a pretty common format there that pretty standardized for that type of thing. So if shouldn't be too hard to find a player for it.

reply to post by DonaldD


A picture would be good. Try the open source software. If that fails and you have a good camera even a photo of your tv screen would help a bit. Many cams are unsecured and its real easy to get into the. But getting in editing your footage and putting it back up would be a mission.

If you have a wifi network then it could be someone near by playing a joke on you or something. It could also be some kind of artifcact.

Thank you all for replying with very informative information. I eventually went through the company for assistance in converting over so that I can view the programme on VLC.

This grab snapshot was just prior:



Actual grab snapshot (on one frame only)

That's a bit small. Why would someone hack your security to leave that? Unless someone's really interested in some incredibly expensive item in your home and is recording sections to play in a loop while they steal the crown jewels, I think it's an artifact of some kind.

reply to post by ChaoticOrder


thanks for the screenshot tip you learn somthing new all the time!

ah now i see the pics what am i ment to be looking for?

reply to post by dashdespatch


Second pic almost straight under the 1 just above the.... door handle? I'm not sure if it's a door or wall decoration.

reply to post by Magnivea


oh i see a bit of dust possibly?...

Always have your security cameras angled toward somewhere their is a clock, so you can see if your footage was altered.