Secure File Transfers for Axis 2100 Network Camera?

zombiechick asks: "I have a number of Axis 2100 network cameras, and would like to modify them to use a secure replacement for FTP. They run Linux, and there are developer tools available on Axis' web site. I am wondering if anyone has already done the work to port SCP (part of the SSH suite) or Secure FTP to the Axis camera. If you have modified the code running on the Axis cams, I'd love to hear about it." We did a story about the Axis camera and similar devices a while ago. Could such changes to cameras like these make them more secure?

Well...

[BJH]

I wouldn't bother trying to get scp working on the camera. I'm not sure exactly how they work, but from your description I presume you can set them up to FTP to a particular host to transfer the pictures.
I can't really imagine anyone using one of these cameras with a global IP address, but I guess I can see te possibility of having it transfer the data from inside a firewall to a site outside the firewall.
OK, anyway, what I would do is set up a small Linux/*BSD box with two Ethernet interfaces. Put the camera on the private side of the box, and hook the other card to the external network (or your in-house network, or whatever). Then have the camera FTP the pictures to the Linux/*BSD box, and have the box send them on to the other server using scp. If you don't like that, you could set up a VPN between the box and the receiving server, but I suspect that's overkill for your needs.

Why would you need it?

[Echo|Fox]

I'm curious as to why you'd have a need for SCP. I wouldn't dream of having one of the Axis camera's I'm using directly visible to the 'net, all of the transfers are done to an internal interface on my LAN. Since the only way into the LAN is through the FreeBSD box thats getting images from the camera's, and I doubt I have to worry about the kids in the daycare packet sniffing, so SCP would just be additional overhead).
However, if its something your situation needs, it shouldn't be overly hard. I've contacted Axis's support people with questions, and have gotten very fast responses every time, and this might be a feature they'd want to incorporate in the future, so they may lend a hand ... who knows :P

It certainly should make them more secure

[GMontag]

Could such changes to cameras like these make them more secure?

Just from the standpoint of reducing sucessful sniffing between the camera itself and the network this would be a great security improvement. Both for us ultra-paranoid sorts, as well as for voyure sites that want flexibility of camera placement, but also wish to choke any point of revenue seepage.

Sounds like a GREAT idea!

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