Staying at home is believed to be the safest thing that we can do during this pandemic. However, that does not exempt us from being surveilled privately through our security cameras at home.
Recently, hackers from China were reportedly stealing thousands of home camera feeds from private properties. Moreover, what's strange in this group was their motive to sell the stolen clips, which come in different packages.
Chinese Hackers Target Private Security Cameras in the Country
Henan Television, a Chinese provincial television broadcaster in Zhengzhou, Henan, reported that the hackers were selling the clips in "home video packages." The footage showed that the cameras of private homeowners were robbed by hackers while some were allegedly placed in the hotels to spy over people who use fitting rooms, salons, and other places.
Furthermore, the hackers also set the pricing for the home videos. They made rounds online on some social media platforms in China.
For instance, those videos that contain nudity and other related content can be bought at 50 Yuan or $8. Meanwhile, the anonymous video seller said that the regular home videos, which are usually the clips acquired from hotel rooms were sold for 20 Yuan or $3.
Moreover, real-time viewing can also be bought at "set meal" prices. Specifically, everyone can have the opportunity to buy the passwords and IDs of the cameras installed in 10 houses for 70 Yuan or $11.
If the buyer wants to acquire access to the said households with the addition of 10 hotels, the price would be 150 Yuan or $23. Also, the biggest package that a person could buy is the 258-Yuan or $39 package, which includes access to 20 households and 20 hotels.
Read also: Brian Krebs Over Microsoft Exchange Server Hack: 'It Wasn't Me'--Is This Security Website Safe?
Over 8,000 Videos Are Already Shared in 20 Days
In a report by South China Morning Post on Wednesday, Mar. 31, one person said that he had access to thousand videos and those were already shared in numerous groups in just 20 days last month.
The unknown person further spoke that the members in the QQ group chat were all VIP members. These exclusive people would have the right to sell the clips to other networks.
The video clips stolen by the hackers reportedly came from Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong provinces.
Furthermore, the person who had a lot of home videos in his storage, said that he could not finish watching them all in six months even if it means viewing them daily.
He even attempted to sell the videos at a lower price, so a potential client could sell them much higher. Moreover, he also had several accomplices who helped him install cameras everywhere they travel.
There were some cases that the hotel discovered the group's plan to install a camera. To compensate for a hundred-yuan camera, the group would devise a plan by cutting the clips to be later sold online.
The scenario ranged from a normal family clip to a video of a half-naked father. A lawyer told South Morning China Post that this act could lead to criminal liability in the case of the videos being sold.
In the case of sexual contents, the punishment would be imprisonment for up to two years. Meanwhile, the hackers could be punished for up to seven years of imprisonment.
Earlier this month, Microsoft also said that the Chinese hackers were also responsible for hacking its email servers.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joen Coronel
