[stedaniels]

I have no comment on the security of Hikvision devices.

However, a lot of cameras these days come with a good sized amount of processing power onboard. This can be used for object detection amongst other things. Even without network access the devices could communicate and act on the command of others in many ways. A couple of ideas. You could communicate with the IR LEDs. You could blank the video feed if a certain QR code or flashing light pattern is detected. I'm sure there are more, but you get the idea.

[bsenftner]

A lot of cameras are for sale with such additional compute, but the only people with them are developers. Corporations that want/need security tend to have large legacy camera networks that one is lucky if they support HD resolution above 720p. I worked for a leading enterprise FR video security company, and the majority of their clients are firms with anywhere from a few hundred to several tens of thousands of original generation IP cameras, which they very slowly replace with something as close to what they already have. They want to continue to use their older cameras too, often because their network and number of cameras fit, higher resolution and greater bandwidth cameras simply can't fit into their live and operating design.