Pro3 Camera randomly "clicks"..

[Adz_P]

Hi everyone, 

So the other night my wife and I are watching a movie on the couch, the room dimly lit. We have a camera pointing into the room and at one point I hear the camera "click" as if it's either attempting to record or being accessed to stream. I quickly look at the camera as it's essentially facing the couch and the IR LED lights are faintly glowing red. They remain lit for about 10-20 seconds and then turn off. I then access the app on my iPhone and have a look at the list. The camera in question does not show any recent activity. 

This type of thing is a regular occurrence for this particular camera, however this is the first time I've manage to catch the IR LED's glowing faintly as the room is usually fairly well lit.  I'm sure it happens with the other camera's too but 2 of them are external and the other is out of earshot at the other end of the house. I do have some custom "Schedules" set up, however this particular camera isn't set-up to record movement whilst we're home, and definitely not during the time I caught this activity. 

My questions are;

• Can/do the camera's periodically ping the SmartHub?
• Is it possible to tell if the system has been compromised?

I am running up to date firmware on the camera's [1.060.11.2_10_20a3998] and the SmartHub VMB4540r2 is also up to date [1.16.5.7_894_a530306]. I'm running iOS 14.6, and my Arlo app is the latest 3.2.2 (2422) released 23/06/21. I have 2FA enabled on my account with a ridiculously long password randomly generated. I'll also be changing my Internet router's wifi password on both frequencies when I am home next, which is going to be painful in setting up those other smart devices again [the password on that account is a ridiculously long password randomly generated as well]! 

We're a little concerned that maybe there's a security issue so we've actually spun the camera 180º and it's facing the wall now. Manually accessing the camera sends the IR into a bit of a spin as it clicks in and out of that mode in an attempt to lock onto something, so if the camera is compromised then this could be a tell-tale sign. 

Cheers,

Adz.

[StephenB]

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@Adz_P wrote:

So the other night my wife and I are watching a movie on the couch, the room dimly lit. We have a camera pointing into the room and at one point I hear the camera "click" as if it's either attempting to record or being accessed to stream. I quickly look at the camera as it's essentially facing the couch and the IR LED lights are faintly glowing red. They remain lit for about 10-20 seconds and then turn off. I then access the app on my iPhone and have a look at the list. The camera in question does not show any recent activity. 

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Do you have activity zones set up?  If you do, that would explain these symptoms.  The motion is captured (whether in-zone or not), but the recording is supressed if the motion is out-of-zone.

Also, one option you have is to set up a schedule to disarm the camera during times when you are typically in the room.  You can combine that with geofencing to are the cameras when you are away from home.

[edit - I missed where you said that the camera schedule isn't supposed to arm the camera when this incident occured.   You might want to double-check the schedule (and that the schedule mode is enabled).

FWIW, the new Arlo Essential Inside Camera has a visible privacy shutter, which lets you know when the camera is armed.  It's a nice camera, but it does require power (no battery).

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@Adz_P wrote:

• Can/do the camera's periodically ping the SmartHub?

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They do connect whenever there is motion detected, but also at other times - note that is required to update the firmware.

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@Adz_P wrote:

• Is it possible to tell if the system has been compromised?

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You can of course contact Arlo support.

I don't know of any cases where the cameras and base stations have been hacked into.  However, it is conceivable that someone managed to log into your account (guessing your password).  But 2FA would have alerted you if that happened.

You could disarm the camera - the video and light activity should certainly stop if you do that.

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@Adz_P wrote:

 I'll also be changing my Internet router's wifi password on both frequencies when I am home next, which is going to be painful in setting up those other smart devices again [the password on that account is a ridiculously long password randomly generated as well]! 

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The Pro3 isn't using your wifi (and neither is the base).  So this is probably not necessary.  

[Adz_P]

Thanks for the feedback.

@StephenB  - there are no activity zones and the scheduling is correct.

@Kasey0012- I'm fully aware of this, thank you.

I've decided to move the camera outside.

[TomMac]

I see this same behavior on my Ultra cam....

Every night it temp clicks on and turns on the light for a few secs... ( can see it cause it triggers my Q camera which records same )

I have asked and it seems that along with the ping to the base, the camera is sort of checking itself.

So, I don't think you system is compromised at all.