Burglary! Systems changes needed quick!

[Jaguar280 0]

Hello everyone,

 

i'm fairly new to the forum but i've been a user of geovision for a while. there was recently a burglary at one of the locations i installed cameras at for my parents. luckily, they didn't get much but it makes think about how i need to make the system better. we installed these cameras to watch the customers and protect ourselves against the average burglars but these guys had to know what they were doing.

 

the system is setup so that when the computers start up, geovision automatically logs in so that no one has to start the software and it automatically begins recording. what happened was since the software was already started,, and the computers were recording... the burglars accessed the software and deleted the recordings from that day. they then turned the computers off to stop further recordings.

 

what i need to think about now is how to prevent something like this from happening again. i have some experience with geovision software but i'm not an expert. i was thinking there must be some sort of way to keep people from deleting the files. is there a way we can record files off-site or maybe through a network? this time we were lucky they deleted the files because the probably would have taken the computers and in that case any on-site recordings would have been compromised.

 

does anyone have any experience with these types of situations that could offer help? i'm hoping for a quick and easy solution (most importantly not too expensive) that would allow us to retain our records even if someone went to the extent of stealing the computer.

 

i appreciate your help!

 

Thank you!

[sinbad 0]

Thats some smart guys you had visiting, sure it wasn't dad?

 

1. Lock the DVR in a lock box.

2. Create a limited user account in GV with permissions set to nothing and use this account for auto login. This is what we do almost always. when client wants to search/edit config he needs to login with the admin account.

[dcam 0]

What I always try to do is hide the DVR. behind a false panel ,or under the floor, above the ceiling.

You can also create a new file path for your recordings, and use an external usb hard drive, you can hide that almost anywhere so even if they find the DVR. you will still have their pretty faces .

If the DVR is hidden in an office where there is another computer , use a KVM. switch that way you see only one computer, one screen, one keyboard.

If you want to hide your DVR. a long way (up to 100m.)from the screen/keyboard, you can use a Unit that transmits VGA / keyboard / mouse, signals via 2x cat5 cables, that way you can dig a hole 100m. deep and bury it there

You could also leave an old (not working ) computer in the office as a decoy, they will have fun trying to sell that.

Hope this helps.

[CollinR 0]

This was probably an inside job, only someone who knew about this system and how it works would have manually deleted the video from it rather then simply stealing or destroying it.

 

Have you tried any forsensic tools to recover the data? If you have left the disk alone the data is still on it.

[Jaguar280 0]

hey guys,

 

thanks for the quick replies. i appreciate the helpful tips. sorry for the late response... been dealing with the mess lol. couple questions/problems though.

 

when we look at everything as a whole we decided that it probably wasn't an inside job but more likely professionals who just happened to pick us (im hoping it wasn't my dad lol). of course, you never know. but we want to protect ourselves so that even if it was an inside job it won't happen again.

 

i like the idea of limiting the auto login account. looking back that was stupid for me not to do that. definately gonna change that.

 

as far as hiding the dvr or locking it inside a box somehow im not sure how effective or practical that would be for our situation.

 

first, since we have so many cameras we actually use two computers. i could hide one of them since it is only used for the cameras but the other computer is used by the office manager for normal tasks as well as monitoring. we would have to get another computer for them. of course, building another won't cost more than a couple hundred bucks so that wouldn't be THAT big of an issue i guess.

 

second, if we do hide the computer or lock them away how can we easily turn them on without having to unlock them? i would imagine we would still want access to the front of the computers. is there any easy solution for this?

 

don't get me wrong... im not opposed to it... i just don't see it being practical for us at this moment. do you guys know of any other solutions or work arounds for this problem?

 

one question... lets assume i create a limited access login account and password protect the rest of the software with an admin account... if i lock the computers so there is absolutely no way they could take it... what ways could they still delete the records?

 

i was thinking there would possibly be a solution that would allow me to record everything off-site (of course this would require a fast connection). is this possible or practical?

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS... BEEN REALLY INSIGHTFUL

[kensplace 0]

If whoever was responsible really knows what they are doing, they could even delete offsite recordings as if they can get access to the pc, the details of how to connect to the offsite system will be on it (they have to be so it can connect to upload)

 

Completely securing the pc is your best option, and if possible have a second spare dvr (a cheapo one) which is hidden, and no one else knows about, with a covert camera watching the main dvr.

 

At least that way, if they do get in, and do get to the PC, and delete the data, they wont know there is another seperate system recording them doing it...

[Jaguar280 0]

hmmm interesting idea...

 

what would be the simplest way to duplicate the dvr?.... i imagine you have send the signal from the cameras to both computers... could u simply split the 16 pin connector (i think its called a 16 pin) where the signal comes in with a Y cable and send it to both computers? i imagine this would also require a second recording card... the ones i bought cost around 900 i believe...

 

is there a less expensive alternative? or maybe a way to record the files onto a duplicate drive with it hidden?

[dcam 0]

Try the external usb hard drive, with an extension, you can hide maybe 15 m. away, also to ensure your DVR starts up on its own after a power failure, Go into bios ...power management... after power failure - power on.

This eliminates the need to push the start button

[destro_23 0]

This was probably an inside job, only someone who knew about this system and how it works would have manually deleted the video from it rather then simply stealing or destroying it.

 

Have you tried any forsensic tools to recover the data? If you have left the disk alone the data is still on it.

 

 

I agree with this statement.. you have probably used the hard drive since but there was a 90% chance all the raw video files were still on there!!

 

the fact that they deleted the files and just didn't rip the PC out.. is very weird, almost like they knew you/worked there in the past.. and didn't want to further the damage made to the store. Also with the networking you can lock down a hard drive with network permissions so only certain people/programs can directly access it.. I would set some strict permissions and hide a few 500gigers somewhere else