Most cameras we see in the wild are very poorly positioned and setup incorrectly. So when it comes to gathering evidence, you find yourself in a situation where the clarity or angle of view is so bad that identification is difficult, especially at night or too far from the camera.
Fancy colour night vision marketing, high 8K specs are actually sometimes the worst cameras when you compare to a high quality brand.
More importantly, we are seeing high risk brands being used in homes/businesses that have been hacked without the company or their IT support being aware of it until a forensic audit is completed with deep traffic inspection or firmware checks – revealing the risks, especially ones that have remote access or cloud storage. These systems, once infected not only leak internal camera footage but act as an internal relay to hack or monitor systems inside your network from any location. We cannot stress enough, how critical a time it is to take this very seriously and upgrade to an approved solution that will protect your privacy.
In addition – we found that ‘older’ alarm system that are internet connected are often overlooked but are being actively hacked and used as internal spy devices or worse.
If you move into a modern all in one eco system like Ubiquiti UniFi Protect, everything from cameras, doorbells, sensors and alarms will now be incorporated into a secure eco system that is now gaining a reputation as the world leading platform for any home or business.
Top 10 worst CCTV/Camera brands that are government banned, contain backdoors or have high security risks – Once Popular Brands in 2025 are now Banned in 2026:
Government-Banned & National Security Risks
These brands have been banned from government and sensitive sites in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia due to severe national security concerns, backdoor vulnerabilities, and data routing to foreign servers.
Any CCTV or Alarm system that requires inbound ports to be opened on your router should immediately be taken offline.
- 1. Hikvision: The world’s largest surveillance manufacturer. They are strictly banned by the US FCC and UK government due to alleged state-sponsored espionage risks and involvement in human rights violations. Their devices have a history of critical firmware vulnerabilities.
- 2. Dahua: The second-largest manufacturer, facing the exact same strict government bans as Hikvision. Cybersecurity experts frequently flag their hardware for vulnerabilities that allow unauthorized remote access.
- 3. Lorex: Formerly owned by Dahua, Lorex cameras utilize Dahua components and are heavily impacted by US FCC bans. This means many of their systems cannot receive proper future security updates, leaving them frozen in time and vulnerable to new exploits.
- 4. Ezviz: This is the consumer-facing smart home brand owned by Hikvision. While marketed to everyday homeowners, Ezviz cameras carry the exact same fundamental hardware, software, and data-routing privacy risks as their banned parent company.
Deceptive Practices & Major Data Breaches
These popular consumer brands have been caught lying about their security or have suffered massive, preventable data breaches.
- 5. Wyze: Known for budget-friendly cameras, Wyze has a terrible track record for security. In recent years, massive system flaws temporarily allowed thousands of users to see the live feeds of strangers’ homes. Consumer Reports explicitly warns against them due to abysmal data privacy.
- 6. Eufy (Anker): Eufy built its entire brand on the promise of “Local Only” storage with no cloud tracking. However, cybersecurity researchers caught them secretly uploading unencrypted facial recognition data and thumbnail images to their cloud servers, completely breaking their core privacy promise.
- 7. Ring (Amazon): Ring was forced to pay a $5.6 million FTC fine after it was revealed that employees and contractors were routinely watching private customer video feeds. They have also faced massive scrutiny for their data harvesting practices and for handing over user footage to law enforcement without a warrant.
Extreme Data Harvesters & Hackable “White-Labels”
These brands lack basic modern security infrastructure or are designed to aggressively mine your personal data.
- 8. Deep Sentinel: Recently flagged in a major privacy study by SurfShark as one of the absolute worst offenders for harvesting user data. Their app aggressively collects and links highly sensitive data (including precise location, payment details, and email addresses) to third-party brokers.
- 9. Vstarcam (and generic white-labels like ieGeek, Sricam): These ultra-cheap cameras flood Amazon and eBay. Security audits by Which? and independent researchers routinely show they feature unencrypted data transmission, weak default passwords (like “admin/admin”), and hardcoded backdoors that make them trivially easy for anyone on the internet to hijack.
- 10. Netvue / Sonoff: Highlighted by smart home security testers for lacking standard modern security features like Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Without 2FA or proper end-to-end encryption, these cameras are highly susceptible to credential-stuffing attacks, allowing hackers to log right into your living room.
Which CCTV/Camera brands should you be using in 2026?
Unfortunately there is very little options here but luckily the few options that are available are exceptionally good and will be a major upgrade on your existing CCTV solution.
- Ubiquiti UniFi Protect – The most secure, smartest and most feature rich solution there is. Any AI features are processed on device locally. The entire solution is all under your control but you can allow your own remote connectivity safely and easily. No data is stored on remote cloud servers and no subscriptions at all.
- Apple HomeKit Secure Video – Some certified brands like Eve or Logitech that are have “accredited by Apple Home Kit” specific products, are safe to use due to end-to-end encryption and security compliant code.
- Axis Communications – Expensive high end enterprise solutions, although good if not exposed through open ports but we feel the UniFi Protect does a better job for less money and less risk with better remote access in a secure eco system.
If you choose to use the Ubiquiti UniFi solution, then you will have access to an ecosystem that gives you a wide range of secure products like:
– Next generation CCTV with secure Remote Access direct to your system. AI car number plate detection, face & people detection and more.
– Video Doorbell with AI face/car/people/package recognition. Optional features like unlock door with RFID, Mobile ID, PIN, Secure Remote.
– Alarm System with motion, door opening detection, temperature, humidity and much more. This combines with advanced camera features.
– Network. Entire computer network in a modern secure firewalled solution. Gateway/firewall, WiFi, Switches and all other networking products.
– Door Access control. It could be a simple front door at home or an entire office block with complex door opening requirements, UniFi does it all.
– Secure File Storage with UniFi NAS. The most advanced and secure file storage solution for home or business.
– Additional Products like digital signage, advanced detection and control, webhook to other devices, secure VPN, 5G/Starlink integration & more.
So How Do You Position and Setup a CCTV Camera Correctly?
Ubiquiti has produced the ultimate video explaining all this and it has saved us a lot of effort. Here are the key points for the video:
Here is a summary of the key information from the video UniFi Academy: Designing for Evidence Capture:
1. Cinematic Aesthetics vs. Forensic Truth
Security cameras are often marketed for their cinematic smoothness, bright night color, and high frame rates. However, what looks good aesthetically is not always useful for forensic evidence [00:30]. True evidentiary value—such as identifying faces or license plates—exists inside individual frames and depends on freezing motion, not visual smoothness [00:46].
2. Shutter Speed is Critical
Motion blur cannot be fixed by higher frame rates (FPS) or AI [01:10].
- Frame rate only determines how often frames are sampled.
- Shutter speed determines whether each frame is sharp [01:02]. Reliable identification requires fast shutter speeds: typically 1/250th of a second for faces, and 1/500th to 1/1000th of a second for moving vehicles and license plates [01:20].
3. The Photon Problem & Low-Light Environments
Fast shutter speeds limit the time light (photons) can reach the camera sensor. In dark environments, lack of light leads to noise and detail loss [01:50]. To compensate, cameras need:
- Larger sensors to collect more total light.
- A narrower field of view (tighter lens) to concentrate pixels where identification occurs [02:22].
4. Infrared (IR) over Extended Exposure
When ambient light is too low, extending the exposure time introduces motion blur [02:57]. Instead of sacrificing motion clarity for bright color video, evidence-first systems switch to monochrome infrared (IR) illumination [03:11]. IR effectively replaces missing light, preserving the fast shutter speeds required for night-time evidence [04:04].
5. Preserving Frame Integrity
High resolutions, high frame rates, and complex backgrounds can stress a camera’s encoder, causing pixelation and detail loss (macro-blocking) right when you need it most [04:34]. To protect evidence:
- Reduce the frame rate to 15-20 FPS. (Yes, 30 FPS is faster but not for clarity – faster isn’t always better.)
- Define “Regions of Interest” to guarantee high bitrates where identification actually occurs [04:46].
6. Camera Positioning & Form Factors
No sensor or AI can overcome bad positioning [05:15].
- Faces: Mount cameras at 2.5 to 3.5 meters with a moderate downward angle [05:26].
- License Plates: Maintain a tight field of view and high pixel density at the capture line [05:35].
- Optical Zoom: Use optical zoom to maintain pixel density and shutter discipline when a camera must be mounted far away [06:45].
- Form Factors: Bullet/turret cameras offer predictable angles and avoid IR glare, while domes offer vandal resistance [06:07]. PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) and 360° cameras are for situational awareness and should supplement—not replace—fixed evidence cameras [06:30].
7. Behavioral Capture Cues
Evidence capture is behavioral, not just optical. Features like an animated detection ring on the camera draw a subject’s attention, naturally encouraging them to look directly at the lens for a better, more identifying capture angle [08:27].
