Domestic CCTV cameras are getting pretty liberally sprinkled around homes these days. Seeing a house bristling with professionally installed cameras capturing every angle of the property is not uncommon and Ring, Blink, etc have done an excellent job of dropping the financial and technical barrier to entry for the DIY crowd.

Great. Slight problem with IoT almost always being vulnerable to deauth attacks and even the newer ones using WPA2 but that’s that. There’s an increasing risk of criminals using deauth devices (I’ve just bought one for £24 off Amazon to test), but that’s really a small minority.

Let’s look at your domestic CCTV in terms of “deter, detect and delay” – the test I use for controls in commercial security assessments. Does it deter? Well, not if they can just put on a hoodie and not look up. High up CCTV installations are fine for large premises but have less utility for a smaller property where the angle is very steep. We’ve all seen this potato-vision footage of a hooded figure on Farcebook. Detect? This is the same issue as with commercial systems. If it’s sat there recording and nothing happens when the system is provoked, you know full well it’s just going to be used for reconstruction. And delay, well, delay needs a purpose and if you haven’t detected them to call the cops…

If you have a home CCTV system, or you’re thinking about one, consider the angle. The last thing I want, as a criminal, is for my face to be captured on CCTV whilst I’m scoping the place out. This is why doorbell cameras are awesome. We’ve actually seen this happen on ours; he stepped onto our drive, saw the camera, the camera saw him and he decided to walk away (and burgle our neighbour, but the footage was taken by the cops and contributed to his prosecution).

Another consideration is the detection part. They need to see that the system is part of active security measures. A lot of people use motion detection and alerts, but they quickly get tiresome and dismissed unless very well configured. But, you can easily link these cameras to a “smart” light within the house, which comes on if the camera is triggered after 2300. If that starts happening, the prospective criminal will start thinking that the system is alerting you and that you are responding. Not that it’s just sat there recording his hoodie and attitude problem. Lights coming on in the house tend to make them skidaddle.

If you’re thinking about a CCTV system, think about what it’s meant to do – prevent crime. Consider how it could best do that, rather than installing one just because CCTV alone might stop burglars.

Edit – in response to comments, yes, you can also get a dog. Dogs are awesome and you should get one.