axis.com (IP security camera vendor) is down (Feb. 21, 2022)

[German]Brief note for people dealing with security cameras from vendor Axis. A German blog reader informed me, that the website of this vendor is currently down. There seems to be massive technical issues causing a major outage. Whether it is the result of a cyber attack, or just the technology, I can not currently answer. Means that customers (banks, supermarkets, etc.) can no longer access their security cameras remotely because the cloud is down. Here is some information. Addendum: It looks like a cyberattack – because after my inquiry on Twitter, there is a new reference to an "IT-related intrusion" on the status page – see addendum in the text. Addendum 1: It's was a cyberattack that has taken place.

Axis Communications AB is a Swedish manufacturer of network cameras, access control and network audio devices for physical security and video surveillance. The manufacturer considers itself a technology leader in network cameras and other IP network solutions.

The websites are down

I received a private message from a reader via Facebook (thanks for that) on 2/21/2022 at mid-afternoon, asking if I knew anything about axis.com, because their website was dead. In deed – whoever tries to access the site axis.com in a browser is greeted with a simple error message that the page is not accessible. Here is the German version of this browser message.

The German-language website *www.axis.com/de-de#, on the other hand, brings a connection-timeout error, as shown in the screenshot above.

I then went to the Axis status page and got the following display – which can't be right. The main domain is shown as massively down, while the local pages should still work.

However, there are only a few error reports on updownradar.com. On Twitter, the manufacturer admits in the following tweet six hours ago that certain external services were disabled off when troubleshooting IT issues

There are already inquiries there and Marine Review writes that AXIS Camera Station Secure Remote Access has already been disrupted for a few days. I also have information from my Facebook source that their customers (bank, supermarket, private) can no longer access their security cameras – the curse of the cloud.

All in all, not good communication from this provider, which is active in the security sector with products. It may well be that they have a massive server failure or software problems. But for such a sensitive area (IoT, remote access services, IP security cameras), it would be helpful if there was timely communication from the vendor regarding the technical issues. However, if there is a cyber attack with ransomware infestation, it would also be important there that the clientele learns about it in a timely manner. I'll ask them on Twitter what's going on.

Addendum: Their social media team answered directly: There is nothing to report, they are working on the problem and ask for patience. I'll put it this way: It would be good to add: But a cyber attack was not the reason for the problems.

Addendum 1: There seems to be something like a cyber attack going on, as you can read on the status page since 4:40 p.m.

INCIDENT STATUS – Investigating

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We are experiencing an IT-related intrusion. For troubleshooting purposes, we have actively disabled external services. Some have already been restarted and we will continue to do so step by step. On this page we show updated information about how our services are affected. For other questions, we refer to your regular Axis contact person via telephone. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Addendum 2: A German blog reader has send me the screenshot below, where axis informs users about an "IT-related attack".