The government will strengthen security measures at every stage—manufacturing, distribution, and use—to prevent recurring IP camera hacking and video leaks. An IP camera is a camera connected to wired or wireless internet that can transmit video to other devices, and it is used for safety management in homes, business sites, and medical institutions.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 7th that, together with the Personal Information Protection Commission, the Korea Media and Communications Commission, and the Korean National Police Agency, it will draw up and push follow-up measures to the "IP camera security enhancement plan," which was released in Nov. last year to minimize damage from recent IP camera hacking and video leaks.
The government said it prepared the "IP camera security enhancement plan" jointly with related ministries and is pushing policy tasks, but because the policy impact that the public can feel has not appeared quickly and IP camera hacking and video leak crimes have continued to occur, it came up with follow-up measures.
It will promote guidance on implementing security measures for IP cameras vulnerable to hacking and protection of victims. The government judged that about 120,000 IP cameras breached by suspects in IP camera hacking recently apprehended by the Korean National Police Agency were exposed to additional hacking damage because they used simple or attacker-known passwords. Accordingly, in cooperation with telecom companies, it decided to quickly identify users based on IP information and recommend implementing security measures such as changing ID/PW.
It will also protect victims of IP camera hacking by supporting the deletion and blocking of sexual exploitation videos and providing victims with legal, medical, and counseling assistance, and will push priority investigations into whether there were violations of the Personal Information Protection Act at high-risk, large-scale video leak business sites. It will also toughen investigations into related crimes such as IP camera hacking and video leaks, the sale and distribution site operation of illegal recordings and other sexual exploitation videos, and the purchase and possession of the videos.
It will also push customized awareness-raising for various stakeholders and pre-inspections of existing usage environments. It plans to draw up and distribute an "IP camera installation and operation security guide" that companies installing IP cameras at multiuse facilities can use during installation and maintenance, and to hold offline briefings to ensure companies' ability to implement security measures.
For major industries with a high potential for crime, it will notify them of their "obligation to ensure security" under the Personal Information Protection Act and continue to provide guidance on IP camera security rules.
In the private sector as well, it will swiftly push legislation to mandate the use of security-certified products for IP cameras in life-related facilities where body exposure is frequent, such as hospitals and swimming pools, and to revise regulations to equip products from the design stage with features such as complex password settings.
At the same time, it plans to consult with manufacturers so that the complex password setting feature can be applied to products already released.
Choi Woo-hyeok, director general for network policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "As security measures for IP cameras operating in a vulnerable state in Korea are more important than anything else, we ask people using IP cameras to be sure to implement security measures such as changing ID/PW," adding, "We will do our part to ensure the stability of IP cameras directly linked to people's daily lives in cooperation with related ministries."