That's fair comment.
From and installer POV we expect the DVR to be secure.
I can understand why many are not, look at shellshock for example, These CVE's will never be updated in older DVR units.
I wouldn't be surprised if most DVR's sold today are running outdated linux kernels or suffer from known exploits.
The issue is as you say, the run of the mill engineer is bearly capable of punching some holes in the firewall and installing the client. This is where the manufacturers should step up IMO.
After all you say about layers, you can put the DVR on a VLAN to protect the site but what about the private images stored on the DVR?
Ultimately the installer would be responsible if anything did happen.