We at SafeNow never advocate for property damage, but we’re showing you how someone might break your camera to explain how you can protect it. We’ll go over how to destroy a security camera for educational and practical purposes.
We’ll show you popular methods like cutting the connecting cables and disabling the camera through an IR flashlight below.
Cut the Connecting Cable
Wireless cameras are more prevalent nowadays, but if there is a wired one, you can easily disable it. You can cut the connecting cable and disable the security camera. Usually, you can find these cables running along the top of the house or underneath it, it’s easy to climb up and cut them, but the issue becomes not entering their field of view while doing this.
When you have successfully cut the cable, sparks are produced, signifying the operation’s success. This is a temporary measure since the camera will work when you change the power cable.
Cut the Wifi Connection (If Wireless)
If a camera is wireless, you can disable the wifi. At this point, the camera cannot send footage to the DVR or recording device successfully.
To cut the wifi of a security camera, you can look for the specific router for the building and disable the router. Or if any of the security systems is run by phone, you can find a way to cut the landlines, achieving the same effect of disabling recording.
Cut the Power
Many cameras may have a separate power source; however, in most cases, they use the same power source as the building, especially if the building owner is on the cheaper side.
Cutting power to this type of building will effectively render the security cameras useless and allow you to access the building without issue; however, it will not permanently disable the camera since when power is turned back on, the camera will work again.
To cut the power to your building, you can do the following:
- Locate the main circuit breaker or fuse box.
- Turn off the main breaker or remove the main fuse. This will disconnect the power to the entire building.
Magnets
Many different magnets can disable a camera, especially if you purchase an earth magnet with a magnetic pull many times stronger than your traditional magnets. An earth magnet can temporarily disrupt and jam the signal, but you can’t destroy a camera with this method. It’s more disabling. (1)
For example, a strong enough magnet can disrupt the functioning of magnetic sensors, such as those used in certain image stabilization systems or lens auto-focus mechanisms. However, it is not reliable or consistent way to disable a camera. Modern cameras often use digital image stabilization and other advanced technologies not affected by magnets.
IR Flashlight
An infrared, laser, or LED beam can blind a camera that may use night vision when it’s dark.
Direct exposure of a camera’s lens or sensor to a laser can cause permanent damage, including burned pixels, loss of image quality, and even complete failure of the camera.
Disable the camera by shining a strong led at it.
- After locating the camera, shine your flashlight to disable it. If you have done this correctly, the camera will be unable to record you due to its lens being blinded and showing up as white or another color.
- The lens flare will only be temporary, so you need a second person to point it at the camera or rest the flashlight on some surface at an angle that blinds the camera.
Cover the Lens in Tape
Lenses can be rendered inoperable by sticking tape across them. It’s important to know that the person doing this can be caught while walking up to the camera, so you should take measures to hide before reaching it.
Though you cover the camera and disable it, the camera will not indicate anything is wrong, and it will appear operational. Because of this, the camera owner will not receive any disabling alerts unless the camera has motion sensors.
Use Spray Paint or paintball gun to Block the Lens
For situations where you want to block the visibility of one or multiple cameras for a short period, consider using a paint gun—it’s the perfect solution because you don’t have to walk up to the camera to disable it, so there will be no recording of you available.
Try shooting the lens to obscure its recording. You should note that paintball paint is not very dense and will drip off slowly, so your time during and after you shoot it in regards to time disabled may vary. Spray paint may be a more durable option, but you need to get closer and risk being seen while you are approaching.
Throw Stones at the Camera
Security cameras are designed to be durable. They can withstand elements such as snow and thunderstorms. (2)
It’s usually pretty difficult to break a security camera. The lens is often protected by a cover made from tough materials such as plastic or glass. Even if you hit the lens with a stone, it may not cause major damage.
If one were to throw stones, they would have to be large and durable enough to either knock the camera down or crack the lens so that recording is suppressed. Remember that damaging property is highly illegal, so anyone not following this article as prevention should be wary of legal risks.
Cover the Camera with a Plastic Bag
Just grab a plastic bag and a zip tie or tape for this step. A regular-sized garbage bag will do fine.
Make sure your privacy is protected through a mask or other means as you’re approaching the camera to put the bag over it.
Once you get close enough, use the terrain around you to reach the camera or bring a portable small step ladder. Upon reaching the camera, put the bag over it and use the zip ties to fix the bag in place so it does not fall off.
Bonus Methods
- If the camera is powered by direct current, you can use the power socket/plug to feed reverse-polarity voltage into it, although most cameras are protected from that, like when they have a diode.
- Install window blinds to block cameras. For privacy, open the blinds or curtains during the day to let light in. This will let people know you’re at home and can deter burglary. In contrast, when the lights are on, people can see inside. At night, blinds or curtains should be shut to prevent peeping toms from seeing what’s happening inside while letting natural light in.
- Changing the view angle of the camera Security cameras with bullet-style lenses work best for this method. They can rotate quickly and change your view, helping you stay safe.
References
(1) magnet – https://www.britannica.com/science/magnet
(2) thunderstorms – https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/thunderstorms/
