Cybersecurity: Data Security Features

iBank

iBANK is IDIS' proprietary multimedia database for robust and effective data recording and searching, even when multimedia data is overwritten or deleted frequently.

The iBANK architecture is used by all IDIS recorders and is set up when a recorder’s storage is formatted as the Record type. This creates multiple banks on the storage device.

This makes it very difficult for unauthorized users to read the data recorded by IDIS recorders without IDIS-specific player software. In addition, the iBANK can search all recorded data except the damaged data, even if a part of the HDD is damaged, such as bad sectors, and important data, such as index is lost.

iBank structure: multiple banks on storage device

Chained Fingerprint

Video fingerprinting is a technique in which software identifies, extracts, and then summarizes characteristic components of a video recording, enabling that video to be uniquely identified by its resultant ‘fingerprint’.
This technology has proven to be effective at identifying and comparing digital video data [1].
However, this common video fingerprinting technique is not good enough to ensure a video has not been altered either from corruption or intentionally, because it is not easy to detect a change in a single
frame/image among the large amounts of frames/images in a video clip.

IDIS Chained Fingerprint1 is an efficient digital fingerprinting technique, designed to solve this problem, making it simple to authenticate whether the video clip is a faithful copy of the originally recorded video
footage.

As shown in the figure below, when image (A) is recorded, a digital fingerprint (A’) is generated and stored with the image. This fingerprint (A’) is used along with information from image (B) to generate fingerprint (B’). This continues with each new recorded image, creating a continuous chain of fingerprints such as A’, B’, and C’. Now, if one of the images in the chain or its fingerprint is modified, the chain is broken, which is easily detectable. Thus, the authenticity of recorded video can be detected by the chained fingerprint method.

Chained Fingerprint Method

In addition, whenever recoded video is exported as a clip file, IDIS recorders and software will check the
authenticity of each image using the chained fingerprint value and regenerate the fingerprint value for the new clip file. Thus, the authenticity of video footage is validated and preserved during export.

Please note that transcoding or editing the video, often used for privacy masking a video clip, breaks the
chain, making it impossible for others to authenticate the video.

Checking the authenticity of recoded or clipped video using chained fingerprint

The chained fingerprint functionality is enabled by default, and there are no configuration options.

When playing a recorded video on an IDIS recorder, if the recorded image and the chained fingerprint value do not match, the video will not play or will display abnormal images. Additionally, a ‘Fingerprint: broken!‘ error message will typically be visible in the debug log.

When playing a clip file, the authenticity of the clip will be shown as an icon in the bottom-right side of the video, as shown in the Figure below.

If the clip is authentic, a green checkmark will be displayed; otherwise, a red error symbol will be displayed.

Password Encryption

The passwords for registered users and devices are automatically encrypted to prevent them from being
decrypted by unauthorized users.
In addition, IDIS NVRs encrypt both the user ID and password used in network communications protocols
such as RTSP/RTP, DirectNDC (VNC), SMTP, NetFS (FTP), and HTTP notification by issuing self-signed
certificates. These passwords can be set and managed separately from the passwords used for general
operation, such as setup, monitoring, and searching.

Configuration Data Encryption

The configuration data (including user and device information) of IP cameras and recorders is stored as
binary files, not plain-text files, which aren’t readable in a simple text editor. IDIS NVRs encrypt the user
information data, such as account, password, and email, which are saved in non-volatile memory. These measures make it difficult for unauthorized users to access and exploit this important and sensitive
information.

Extracted Data Encryption

For enhanced data security, passwords can be set on the clip and log data extracted from devices. If a password is set, all extracted data is encrypted using the specified encryption algorithm to prevent reading the extracted data without the password.

Clip data encryption with Password

Clip data can be encrypted with a password using the ‘Search > Clip-Copy > New Password’ option on NVRs, the ‘Search > Export > Clip-Copy > Password’ option on TVRs, or the ‘Export Video File > Save Password’ option on IDIS Center or IDIS Solution Suite, as shown in the Figure below.

The data recorded on an SD card in an IP camera can be extracted to an encrypted clip file using IDIS Center or IDIS Solution Suite.

Log data encryption with Password

System log data can be encrypted with a password using the ‘System > General > Show System Log…>
Export > Use Encryption option on NVRs.
Various log data, such as system, event, and service logs, can be encrypted with a password using the
‘Report > Save As > HTML (encrypted) Files or PDF Files’ option on IDIS Center or IDIS Solution Suite as
shown in the Figure below.

IDIS NVR

IDIS Center and IDIS Solution Suite