Verkada systems are purposefully designed to minimize the attack surface that could be exploited by malicious actors, and our system makes outbound-only connections to AWS cloud services. This system architecture eliminates a number of insecure components, practices, and protocols that are common with competing technology including:
Open ports; port-forwarding
Unencrypted data storage
Web-servers
ONVIF
Cloud Storage Location
Users with the correct permissions can set a default data storage location for their organization, and they can also set individual cameras to different data storage locations if desired. This includes data in the cloud and data in transit. This can be set up from the Admin tab.
Default Data Storage Location
Organization Admins are able to set the default data storage location for their organization from the Admin tab.
Sign in to an Organization Admin account
Select the All Products menu from the top left-hand corner of Command
Select the Admin tab
Select Privacy & Security
Select the drop-down under Default Data Storage Location
Select the desired data center for your data to be stored
Per-Camera Data Storage Location
Organization Admins and Site Admins are able to set a data storage location for individual cameras.
Sign in to an Organization Admin account or an account with Site Admin privileges to the desired site
Select Cameras from the All Products menu in the top left-hand corner
Select the desired camera from the Cameras page
Open the camera's settings page by selecting the setting gear on the bottom right-hand corner of the camera live feed
Select Privacy
Select the drop-down to the right of Data Storage Location
Choose the desired data center for your data to be stored
On-Camera Storage
The Verkada offering retains video and audio recordings on each Verkada security camera. Depending on the device model, these recordings may represent up to 365 days of continuously recorded video and audio.
Once the maximum storage capacity for a device is reached, the Verkada system will automatically delete data that is stored on the camera — and in the cloud — beginning with the oldest recordings. Unless you have archived recordings in Verkada Command, no versions or copies of those recordings will be retained — they will be permanently deleted from on-camera storage and the cloud.
Thumbnails & Metadata
During the camera’s resting state, the Verkada system stores the following items in the cloud: thumbnail images and metadata related to the camera’s settings and status, including time and network connectivity.
Once the maximum storage capacity for a device is reached, the Verkada system will automatically delete thumbnails and metadata that are stored on the camera — and in the cloud — beginning with the oldest files. Unless you have archived recordings in Command, no versions or copies of those files will be retained — they will be permanently deleted from on-camera storage and the cloud.
Archived Video
When you archive a video clip in Command, these files are retained in Verkada’s cloud service indefinitely until one of the following events occurs:
You delete the file in Verkada Command
You terminate your Verkada account
Cloud Backup
Every Verkada camera comes with 30 days worth of free cloud backup storage. This feature is enabled on a per-camera basis. If cloud backup has been configured and a camera goes offline you will be able to view all footage that has been successfully uploaded to the cloud prior to the outage. The camera will continue to record locally even if offline. Once the connection to the cloud is re-established, all footage will again be backed up to the cloud.
What cloud services provider does Verkada use?
Verkada uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud servers and Backblaze for the storage of cloud backups. Both AWS and Backblaze are data center operators that meet high industry standards for data security, disaster recovery, and privacy.
For more information on data security, please visit their websites:
Amazon AWS: https://aws.amazon.com/security/
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/security.html