Man in his 30s Arrested for Hacking Monthly Pads of 400,000 Apartment Units and Leaking Private Information

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters announced on the 20th that they have arrested a man in his 30s on charges of hacking wallpads (residential management terminals) installed in apartments nationwide, illegally filming residents' daily lives, and leaking the footage, and are currently investigating the case.

According to the police, Mr. A is suspected of hacking wallpads installed in 638 apartment complexes nationwide, covering 404,847 households, from August to November last year, secretly filming inside. He is also accused of leaking some of the recorded videos online. A police official stated, "As the analysis is ongoing, the number of affected households may increase in the future."

Police investigations revealed that Mr. A, a security expert, personally developed an automated hacking program and possessed considerable IT security knowledge, freely using methods to evade tracking and secure email services. It was also found that he hacked wireless routers installed in multi-use facilities such as restaurants and lodging establishments to exploit them for criminal purposes. He showed meticulousness by using overseas secure email and file-sharing services that do not require real-name verification for subscription.

Among the videos filmed by Mr. A, about 200 reportedly contain private scenes, including nudity of apartment residents. The police are investigating the possibility that Mr. A committed these crimes with sexual motives and have not ruled out additional charges related to sex crimes if evidence is found during the investigation.

The police began the investigation in November last year after receiving a request from the Korea Internet & Security Agency. With the cooperation of the wallpad manufacturers and focusing on preventing further damage, after about a year of investigation, they identified Mr. A’s identity and arrested him at his residence on the 14th. The police applied for an arrest warrant on charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act, but it was reportedly dismissed by the court. A police official said, "We will decide whether to reapply for the warrant after further investigation."

The police plan to continue efforts to detect and track new types of personal information infringement crimes using digital devices while also working to prevent victimization. A police official urged, "To ensure network security in multi-unit housing, please follow the security guidelines for wallpads within each household and reset the administrator account and WiFi passwords of personal wireless routers installed at home to prevent their misuse in crimes."