Four people have been arrested in South Korea, accused of hacking into more than 120,000 cameras in homes and business premises, exploiting security vulnerabilities and simple passwords to create and make sexual exploitation material available on an illegal foreign website.

According to the authorities’ statement, those arrested allegedly exploited vulnerabilities in home cameras, which are connected to home networks and are often used for security purposes or to monitor children and pets. Locations where compromised cameras were found include homes, karaoke halls, pilates studios and a gynecological clinic.

According to the BBC, police clarified that the four suspects appear to have acted independently of each other, without having cooperated. One of them is accused of hacking into 63,000 cameras and producing 545 videos of sexual exploitation, which he allegedly sold for $12,235 in virtual assets. A second suspect allegedly hacked 70,000 cameras and made 648 videos available, making 18 million won.

These two suspects are allegedly responsible for about 62% of the illegal material posted last year on a website that illegally distributes videos from hacked IP cameras. The authorities are now moving to block and shut down the site, and are working with foreign agencies to identify and investigate the operator.

Meanwhile, three people have been arrested who allegedly bought or monitored material through the platform.