On September 2017, Dahua recorders were attacked worldwide by a major virus that affected the normal functionality of the recorder. The most visible typical symptom is that the camera names will be changed to Hacked 1, Hacked 2, etc. and the picture itself will blacked out by modifying the image settings (making the brightness, contrast, hue etc. set to 0). The most affected recorders are the HDCVI DVRs, a certain line of NVRs and a few IP camera models.

The HACKED message on the screen.

The HACKED message on the screen.

So if you see your Dahua DVR/NVR has a “hacked” message on the screen, follow the steps below to fix the issue:

  1. Disconnect the network cable from the back of your recorder.
  2. Using your mouse log into Main Menu using 888888 as account name with the default password 888888, or your own password if you modified it.
  3. On the Main Menu, navigate to System in the Setting section (icon is located at bottom right), then go to the DEFAULT menu. Click Factory Default at the bottom. System will ask you to reboot. Please click YES. If the Factory Default option is missing, click Default.
  4. After the reboot, your camera images should come back up and the HACKED labels should go away. If it not, it will get fixed when the procedure ends.
  5. Log into Main Menu again using 888888 account (default password: 888888) or with the admin account (default password: admin).
  6. It’s necessary to update the firmware to the latest version to make the system secure. Contact your seller to get the right firmware. Or comment below with your recorder model and we’ll try to help you out with the firmware. After you download the right firmware, put it on a USB stick
  7. Plug the USB stick at the USB port of your recorder and upgrade the recorder. After the update is done, the recorder with reboot. (This step can be done via web browser as well).
  8. If it still shows “hacked”, do another factory reset. (Main Menu > Settings > System > Default > Factory Default).
  9. When the recorder comes back on, modify the 888888 and admin account. Use a strong password, combining letters, numbers and symbols.

Note: The recorder will keep getting “hacked” if you don’t update the firmware.

Read this article for extra tip on how to have a more secure security system.