[…]hackers recently breached approximately 120,000 IP cameras across Korea — often found inside private homes like Kim’s — has left her and many others seething, prompting the government to take action.
As shocking the scale of the intrusions was the alleged motive behind them. Videos captured by the hacked cameras were allegedly sold to an overseas pornography website, exposing some of the most intimate moments of unsuspecting victims to anonymous viewers abroad.
Only 1,193 videos from the hacked cameras have been uncovered so far on overseas websites, raising concerns that many more remain undiscovered.
In response, an interagency task force comprising officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Personal Information Protection Commission and the National Police Agency announced on Dec. 7 that it would pursue a multilayered reform package. The measures aim to shift responsibility beyond individuals and camera manufacturers to include installation companies and telecommunications providers.
Yet as policymakers scramble to overhaul regulations and reinforce technical safeguards, interviews with everyday users of IP cameras reveal a gap between how these devices are used and understood and the level of risk they actually pose.
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any hacked cameras were protected by simple or widely known passwords that were rarely changed. A government survey found that only 59 percent of installation companies consistently carried out mandatory security measures, such as changing default password settings.
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What sets the current case apart — and prompted the government’s unusually forceful response — is the nature of the harm involved.
Police believe one suspect hacked 63,000 IP cameras, producing 545 videos that he sold to an overseas website for 35 million won ($24,000) in cryptocurrency. Another suspect allegedly hacked 70,000 devices, creating 648 videos that he later sold to the same website for 18 million won.
The two individuals, whom police say are not accomplices, sourced most of their footage from IP cameras installed in ordinary homes, gynecology offices, breastfeeding rooms, massage parlors, Pilates studios and waxing salons. They often accessed the same compromised devices repeatedly. The videos accounted for 62 percent of all content on the website, which includes a separate “Korean” category.
Two additional suspects are accused of hacking 15,000 cameras and 136 devices, respectively, to collect footage for private possession.
Unlike leaked phone numbers or delivery addresses, compromised IP camera footage can expose faces, bodies, children and private spaces. Prof. Kim emphasized that hacked cameras can reveal “an individual’s movements, daily life and relationships,” making the potential for privacy violations “extremely high.”
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Source: Mass hacking of IP cameras leave Koreans feeling vulnerable in homes, businesses
Robin Edgar
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