South Korea busts massive spycam ring that hacked 120,000 connected cameras 🎦

Cliquez ici pour lire en français

South Korean police have arrested four men accused of hacking into nearly 120,000 private security cameras. Investigators say the group captured intimate footage inside homes, businesses, and public venues — then sold the videos on overseas porn platforms. The case reignites concern over insecure connected devices and the country’s long-running battle against “spycam” crimes.

A massive breach enabled by basic security flaws 🔍

According to authorities, the hackers exploited extremely common weaknesses found in consumer IP cameras — starting with default passwords left unchanged by owners. With these unsecured logins, the group accessed live video feeds and recorded footage without detection. The compromised cameras were located across a wide range of places: private homes, gyms, karaoke rooms, retail shops… even a gynecology clinic.

One suspect alone allegedly hacked 70,000 cameras and created 648 videos. Another compromised 63,000 devices to produce 545 videos. Together, the group is believed to be behind 62% of the illegal content uploaded to a spycam-focused website. Investigators estimate they generated more than €31,000 worth of virtual assets through video sales.

Not just the creators: viewers are now under scrutiny 👁️

Police say responsibility doesn’t stop with the video producers. Park Woo-hyun, who leads the investigation, emphasized that viewing or possessing illegal recordings is itself a serious crime. Authorities plan to expand prosecutions to include people who watched the content — a tactic already used in previous spycam cases.

The scandal highlights recurring vulnerabilities in connected devices. Affordable IP cameras, while popular and easy to install, are often left with minimal configuration:

• default passwords never changed
• missing firmware updates
• weak or outdated security protocols

Officials are urging users to secure their devices, update software regularly, and adopt stronger password practices.

A long-standing issue that keeps resurfacing ⚠️

Spycam crimes are not new in South Korea. The country has been grappling with covert filming for years. As recently as 2025, the leaked sex tape of an Italian TV host was traced back to a hack of his home cameras. A 2022 global study also warned that hundreds of thousands of connected cameras worldwide had critical security flaws.

The arrest of these four suspects marks an important step forward, but it also underscores a larger truth: the digital security of connected devices remains a major challenge — for consumers, manufacturers, and law enforcement alike.

👉🏾 Should manufacturers be required to meet stricter security standards to prevent this kind of abuse?