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Four arrested for hacking surveillance cameras to produce pornography

Published: 30 Nov. 2025, 14:12

[YONHAP]

Four people have been arrested in connection with the hacking of more than 120,000 internet protocol (IP) surveillance cameras installed in homes and businesses, which led to the large-scale production and distribution of sexually exploitative videos.

According to the National Office of Investigation on Sunday, the four suspects did not work together and each independently hacked into the cameras, extracted video footage and either sold it on foreign pornography websites or stored it. All were arrested separately.

IP cameras are commonly used to monitor children, older adults, pets or for security, but the use of the internet to stream the footage makes them highly vulnerable to hacking. The suspects exploited this by targeting devices protected with simple passwords, such as repeated characters like “1111” or basic alphanumeric sequences.

One suspect, who is unemployed, hacked into 63,000 cameras, created 545 sexually exploitative videos and sold them through overseas platforms, earning about 35 million won ($24,000) in cryptocurrency.

Another suspect, an office worker, hacked 70,000 cameras, produced 648 videos and received approximately 18 million won in cryptocurrency. Neither had any of the proceeds remaining from the crimes at the time of their arrests. Police notified the National Tax Service for possible tax enforcement measures.

Police said the videos produced by the two suspects accounted for 62 percent of all illegal recordings uploaded to a specific foreign pornography site over the past year. The site hosts footage involving victims from multiple countries. Korean authorities are working with law enforcement agencies abroad to shut it down.

A third suspect, a self-employed person, hacked into 15,000 cameras and stored the footage, while a fourth suspect, an office worker, hacked 136 cameras and also kept the videos. Police said there was no evidence that these two suspects distributed or sold the material. Three of the four suspects have been detained, while one was not.

Police have also taken steps to protect victims. Investigators contacted 58 affected locations either by phone, in person or by mail to inform them of the breach and provide guidance on securing their devices, such as changing passwords. Ongoing support includes assigning dedicated officers, offering counseling services, deleting and blocking illegal footage and connecting victims with the Digital Sexual Crime Victim Support Center. Authorities also said they would respond firmly to any secondary harm.

A request to block access to the foreign website has already been submitted to the Korea Communications Standards Commission. A separate international investigation is underway targeting the site operator and its overseas users. Police also arrested three individuals in Korea who purchased or viewed the videos, emphasizing that viewing or possessing such content is a serious offense and will be strictly prosecuted.

The National Office of Investigation urged IP camera users to take precautions by immediately and regularly updating their passwords. Users were advised to set passwords of at least eight characters including special symbols, change them at least once every six months and keep firmware up to date.

“Crimes involving IP cameras cause serious harm to victims,” said Park Woo-hyeon, cybercrime policy officer at the National Police Agency. “We will eradicate them through active investigations.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]