South Koreans have long been wary of hidden cameras in public toilets, subway stations and motel rooms. That fear

increasingly extends to the cameras in their own homes.

Four people were arrested over the hacking of 120,000 home security cameras in South Korea, whose footage was used to

make sexually exploitative material, the National Police Agency said on Monday.

It was the latest turn in South Korea’s decadelong battle against the illicit electronic spying that officials say has

compromised countless devices that people use in daily life.

The footage came from internet-connected cameras that were installed in homes, businesses, hospitals, saunas and other

spaces, commonly to monitor children or pets. One of the people arrested made about $12,000 by selling the footage to a

foreign website that shares illegal content, and another made twice as much, the police said in a statement.

The hackers, who did not work together, were able to infiltrate the devices easily because they used vulnerable

passwords with features like repeated characters or sequential numbers, the police said.

Such security cameras are used worldwide, and many have vulnerabilities. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission fined a

security camera firm, Verkada, about $3 million last year after a hacker breached nearly 150,000 cameras inside

hospitals, prison cells and rooms with children.

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