Chinese-made surveillance cameras are in British offices, high streets and even government buildings - and Panorama has investigated security flaws involving the two top brands. How easy is it to hack them and what does it mean for our security?
In a darkened studio inside the BBC's Broadcasting House in London, a man sits at his laptop and enters his password. Thousands of miles away, a hacker is watching everything he types. Next, the BBC employee picks up his mobile phone and enters the passcode. The hacker now has that, too.
A security flaw in the surveillance camera on the ceiling - manufactured by the Chinese firm Hikvision - means it's now vulnerable to attack.
"I own that device now - I can do whatever I want with that," says the hacker. "I can disable it… or I can use it to watch what's going on at the BBC." Thankfully for the man being watched, the hacker is working with the BBC. This is part of a series of experiments by Panorama to test the security of some Chinese-made surveillance cameras.
Hikvision and Dahua are two of the world's leading manufacturers of surveillance cameras. Nobody knows how many of their units line the UK's streets...
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