Below is a selection of pictures from my back yard. The Coyotes have been more active this year than usual. Nice picture of a doe and her young faun.
Monthly Archives: November 2017
A Primer on IP Cam, DVR, & NVR Network Security
The availability of low cost residential IP (Internet Protocol) Cameras, Digital Video Recorders (DVR), and Network Video Recorders (NVR) has brought significant benefits to individual home security and monitoring at a distance.
Some of our BLOG users have purchased these devices. If you are participating in the Sunrise Terrace Snapshot Repository we have assured you that your personal network remains secure when using the outbound FTP transport configuration provided to you when you added your camera, DVR, or NVR to the Sunrise Terrace Repository site.
Most of these IP devices are capable of additional methods of content sharing and remote access that may have already been activated by the manufacturer as part of a vendors “plug and play” or “out of the box” automatic usability features.
In this BLOG POST I review five basic network configuration settings essential to maintaining the security of your personal network and the IP devices attached to that network. Making changes to your userID & password pairs, DDNS settings, remote access protocol, and router logs varies depending out your router make and model. Most of these changes can be accomplished using your routers GUI interface and will not be difficult. Consult your router operating manual for specific instructions.
The first suggestion (1) and best way to protect your IP devices from intrusion is to change the manufactures default administrative userID and password, or better yet disable the vendor administrative userID and create your own access credentials!
Suggestion two (2) is to disable DDNS service on your IP device unless you are using a DDNS service for your own remote access to IP cameras, DVR’s, or NVR’s on your network.
Suggestion three (3) is to change IP device remote access service to a non-standard port. The standard (well known) ports for some protocols are HTTP:80, RTSP:554, HTTPS: 443, and Server:8000. Choose a port different from the well known ports and one above 2000 if possible for the operating systems of your camera.
Suggestion four (4) is to monitor your Internet Router activity. Keeping your router visible so you can and monitor the router LED’s for transmit and receive activity is an indication of a possible attack.
Suggestion five (5) is to check the router log periodically or when you observe continuous or unusual router activity. External access attempts to your personal network will appear in the router log (if you have activated logging) and you can use that data to filter or deny unwanted traffic to your personal network.
The five suggestions above are easy tasks and are the basis of good Internet security for IP devices on you network.
I hope this BLOG POST has been helpful in securing your personal network.
Footnote: IETF RFC-1918 private network ranges start with the IP Addresses: 10.0.0.0, 172.16.0.0, & 192.168.0.0.
Tis the Season “to have your packages stolen”
Nowadays almost everyone gets packages from shopping online. Costco, Amazon.com, Sears, Walmart; it seems like almost every retailer has an online presence. More frequently during the Holiday Season there are shoppers out there who are shopping for packages left at your front door. Package thieves are already working the area and at the end of this article is a picture of a thief working near Spooner Farms and Hwy 162 , our old friend the 2001 White 4 door Honda Civic, license AAK 0463, and a couple of pictures showing a package thief with a red Dodge Caravan with rather distinctive damage. The license number of the Dodge appears to be AIG 1656. A friend sent me the pictures of the woman with the Dodge from a group of Facebook pages he says is devoted to Puyallup Crime.
This season let’s make it harder for the bad guys and girls. When you order things, try to keep up with the tracking numbers and know when to expect them. If you are not going to be home, ask a neighbor to keep a lookout for your package. If the item is particularly valuable, ask for the driver to obtain a signature before leaving it.
I have good high resolution cameras which record my visitors, and my deliveries. If you don’t have a camera system at your home, or if your system produces fuzzy pictures, perhaps you might consider purchasing a wildlife camera just to record the coming and going of delivery men during the Holiday Season. Wildlife or trail cameras, as some people call them, can be purchased for prices between $50 and $600 plus tax, however most trail cameras are less than $200. A steel security enclosure for the camera can also be purchased.
If you do purchase a wildlife camera, be sure to put it in a place where it will not be noticed. Otherwise you might be missing your package and your wildlife camera.
–ALERT– Recent Suspicious/Criminal Activity In Our Neighborhood
On 20 Oct. a single individual driving a white 4 door Honda Civic, license number AAK 0463 entered our Neighborhood at 04:56:46hrs, drove down 136th Ave. E., turned around, came back, pulled into the driveway at 11712 136 Ave. E. to turn around again and parked on 136th in front of 11701 136th Ave. E. The masked driver then proceeded down 117th St. E. staying in the shadows on the North side of the road, turned onto 138th Ave. Ct. E., went straight to 11701 136th Ave. Ct. E. and destroyed one of the two cameras which looked out on 138th Ave. Ct. E. He then returned to his car and left the Neighborhood at 05:11:57hrs. The criminal was in the Neighborhood a total of 15min. 11 sec.
On 21 Oct. a white 4 door Honda Civic was observed in Shawnee Ridge. An individual from this car was caught on camera as he came up to the porch of a home in Shawnee Ridge at 20:30:43hrs, left and came back again at 20:51:50hrs. The White Honda Civic License Number AAK 0463 was observed leaving the Neighborhood at 23:29:21hrs. We do not know where they went or what they did between 20:51:50hrs and 23:29:21hrs when they left the Neighborhood. We have a fair picture of the intruder at Shawnee Ridge thanks to the cameras.
On 25 Oct. a white 4 door Honda Civic license number AAK 0463 was observed in the vicinity of Spooner Farms on highway 162. The occupants were observed stealing packages from porches. A lady posted on Facebook that she had pictures of the car and videos. A copy of the picture of the car is below this posting.
On 28 Oct. at 04:51:01hrs the same white 4 door Honda Civic license AAK 0463 entered our Neighborhood and turned on 117th St. E. where it parked on the South side of the street just before 138th Ave Ct. E. Two masked men exited the car, went directly to the two cameras which I had mounted on high poles looking down 138th Ave. Ct. E. and 117th St. E. They proceeded to destroy one camera entirely and broke the mounting arm of the other camera. One of the last pictures transmitted by the camera shows one of the men going to their car while the other is still working to destroy the camera which looked up 117th St. E. The car left the neighborhood at 05:08:56hrs. The total elapsed time from entry to exit of the Neighborhood was 16 min. 55 seconds.
Alan Manning, Rod Okazaki and I have replaced the cameras.
These crooks are targeting our Neighborhood. They obviously have come into the Neighborhood before the 20 Oct. visit, since the crook went directly to my camera and destroyed it. He was in the Neighborhood for 15min. 11sec. that time. On 21 Oct. we know they were prowling around at least one home in Shawnee Ridge at 20:30hrs and did not leave the Neighborhood until 23:29:21hrs, which means that at a minimum they had to be in the Neighborhood over 3 hours.
Please be extra vigilant in the coming months. These crooks are targeting our Neighborhood and have been seen stealing packages from porches in areas close to here. If you see a white 4 door Honda Civic license number AAK 0463 call 911 at once and report its position. In fact if you see any car with license number AAK 0463 call 911. The Sheriff’s Office has informed me that druggies often swap cars and license plates as part of their operation. DO NOT APPROACH THESE INDIVIDUALS. THEY MUST BE ASSUMED TO BE DANGEROUS. CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY.
— Sunrise 7 Nov 2017 — By Teri Seymour
Teri Seymour was up early this morning and caught this picture of the sunrise. I present it here for your enjoyment.
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