People who hacked IP cameras in homes or business sites and sold the footage to a sexual exploitation site were caught by police.
The Korean National Police Agency National Office of Investigation (NOI) said on the 30th it arrested four people who hacked about 120,000 IP cameras and sold the videos to an overseas site, and detained three of them. They are not accomplices.
Suspect A, who was detained, is accused of hacking about 64,000 IP cameras and editing the footage to produce illegal sexual exploitation material. He was found to have made off with 35 million won worth of virtual asset by selling it on an overseas site.
Office worker B is accused of hacking 70,000 IP cameras and producing and selling 648 items of sexual exploitation material. B also pocketed 18 million won worth of virtual asset.
Self-employed C and office worker D are accused of hacking 15,000 and 136 IP cameras, respectively, and storing the stolen footage. They were found not to have distributed or sold the footage.
An IP camera is a camera used by connecting to the internet or Wi-Fi and is commonly called a "home cam." It has been widely distributed to check on the safety of children, seniors, and pets or to prevent crime. The suspects were said to have targeted the fact that the IDs and passwords of IP cameras are simple.
As hacking IP cameras to produce and distribute sexual exploitation material became frequent, a site operated in Chinese even had a separate "Korea" category. Videos shot in everyday places, including not only private homes but also obstetrics and gynecology delivery rooms, clothing stores, and coin karaoke rooms, were posted.
Police are pursuing the operators of the illegal site in cooperation with foreign investigative agencies. They also asked the Korea Communications Standards Commission to block access to the site in question.
Police advised IP camera users to change their passwords regularly. In particular, they emphasized: ▲ passwords of at least eight characters including special characters ▲ changing passwords at least once every six months ▲ keeping firmware up to date with frequent updates.