S-1 announced the "2026 security trends" on the 11th.
According to S-1, in the unmanned store sector, both the number of theft incidents and the number of affected stores increased as unmanned operations spread for operational efficiency. The number of unmanned stores is estimated to have exceeded 10,000 in 2025 from about 2,250 in 2020, and theft incidents targeting unmanned stores rose from 3,514 in 2021 to 10,847 in 2023.
Accordingly, the number of stores that experienced theft damage was found to have surpassed 10,000. In the survey, theft and larceny were most frequently cited as the most concerning incidents in operating unmanned stores, and post-incident detection and the burden of constant monitoring were identified as major difficulties. For security systems needed going forward, there was strong demand for AI-based automatic detection of abnormal behavior and linkage with dispatch response.
In public facilities, building aging was found to be a major issue. As of 2024, about 44.4% of all buildings were found to be aged structures that have been more than 30 years since occupancy approval. In the survey, the most concerning points in facility safety management were cited as delays in fire and disaster response, unauthorized intrusions by outsiders, and aging or breakdowns of facilities, and the method of detecting facility anomalies or incidents relied heavily on inspections or after incidents occurred. Regarding the need to introduce smart facility management solutions, 93% of respondents said they were necessary.
In the residential sector, security anxiety was found to be spreading due to increases in residential intrusion and parcel theft. In the first half of 2025, there were about 400 parcel theft cases, 70% of which occurred in multiunit housing. Residential intrusion cases also reached 18,894 in 2024, up 11.0% from 2019. In the survey, residential intrusion, outsiders loitering, and parcel loss and theft were cited as major security risks, and responses were high for needs such as doorfront CCTV and dispatch security services as security systems going forward.
S-1 said that across industry and daily life, security demand is shifting from post-incident confirmation to prior prediction and immediate response, and that the introduction of predictive security solutions using artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies is expected to accelerate.
Meanwhile, this announcement is based on a survey of 27,207 of its customers conducted from Jan. 2 to 6 and a comprehensive analysis of crime and accident statistics. S-1 focused on the expansion of security beyond specific facilities or corporations to industrial sites, unmanned stores, public facilities, and dwellings across daily life, and analyzed security trends by space.
Based on the analysis results, S-1 selected the 2026 security trend as "AI-driven security paradigm shift, from detect to predict." This is because the limitations of the existing approach of "post-incident confirmation" were commonly pointed out in all areas from industrial sites to residential spaces, and demand for AI-based pre-detection and prediction systems was clearly evident.
S-1 presented four detailed trends by space: ▲ expansion of predictive AI safety management for factories and warehouses ▲ a shift of unmanned store security to immediate response systems ▲ expanded adoption of preventive smart facility management in government offices and schools ▲ evolution of home security in dwellings centered on monitoring equipment.
In industrial sites, serious accidents have not decreased even after the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), as of June last year, the number of deaths from industrial accidents was 1,120, up 8.4% from the same period a year earlier. In the survey, the reasons for installing security systems were, in order, fire, smoke, and overheating; external intrusion and theft; and worker safety accidents, while the most threatening factors cited currently were unmanned time gaps, reliance on personnel, and post-incident detection. For security systems they want to supplement going forward, responses were high for pre-incident risk detection and real-time monitoring, and the proportion who said the introduction of AI-based real-time risk detection solutions is necessary was found to be 83%.