As reported by Bloomberg News earlier this month, a group of hackers breached security camera data collected by a startup in Silicon Valley. An international hacker collective claimed responsibility with the goal to demonstrate how simple it was to carry out a data breach of this magnitude. Using a compromised “Super Admin” account, the hackers easily gained access to 150,000 live feed cameras from hospitals, police departments, schools, prisons, and other companies. Footage included police/suspect interrogations and live video from inside women’s health clinics and psychiatric hospitals. 

It’s still too early to determine what the long-term consequences of the hack will be and if there will be any legal ramifications. But the video breach is a reminder that data protection for cloud-based services is critical for safe operation. 

That’s where XQ comes in. If the cameras had the XQ agent installed both live and stored video would be protected.  XQ works by encrypting video right on the camera with an ephemeral key.  The key is posted to a cache with specific policies on who can access it.  In this case, even a Super Admin would not be able to access the data unless they were authorized to do so.  Moreover, every transaction in XQ is logged in real-time.  Thus if there was unexpected authorized access that would also be flagged. 

Earlier this year the Indiana 5G Zone demonstrated encrypted video using XQ technology. In the video below you will learn about XQ’s API-based architecture that encrypts data on the edge to ensure that large-scale breaches don’t happen. Check it out!

Click here for the video