Sensitive clips from home camera were sold

More and more people are installing security cameras, sometimes up to a dozen cameras everywhere in the house. But many of the private footage of family activities from those cameras have been posted online, even sold.

Videos extracted from hacked cameras are widely shared on many groups with adult content. Users who want to watch more VIP videos have to pay - Screenshot

More and more people are installing security cameras, sometimes up to a dozen cameras everywhere in the house. But many of the private footage of family activities from those cameras have been posted online, even sold.

Many people are selling access to camera systems of many families, shops, and spas to people with sick needs... Why did the clip leak, and how can it be prevented?

Profiting from hacking cameras, selling private videos

After unexpectedly receiving a video from a friend, Mr. Hoan (HCMC) was extremely shocked because the scene was... in his kitchen. When asked again, the friend said that the video had been shared a long time ago in a group on a messaging app.

After logging into the group, Mr. Hoan also discovered that many other videos recording very private scenes of his family in the kitchen had been posted online by someone. Even more painful, many videos recording private activities of Mr. Hoan’s daughter in her private room were also shared.

Mr. Hoan was extremely confused: "I don't know how and when the security cameras in my house were hacked. I don't know how many more private videos are there and where they are being shared and stored. My wife has a decent job and my children are in their teens. The consequences will be unpredictable, affecting my reputation and work."

Video sales lines online

Mr. Hoan’s case is no longer an isolated incident. According to Tuoi Tre’s investigation, many videos extracted from cameras in families in Vietnam have been shared and spread in many groups on messaging platforms and social networks.

Many videos are scenes of couples having sex, casually dressed or even naked in the bedroom.

In particular, many videos were filmed from the bedrooms of young girls or minors. Many videos show that the cameras were monitored and collected by bad guys for a very long time without the victims knowing.

There are many clubs, groups, and forums related to adult content. According to Tuoi Tre, clubs and groups on the topic of hacking cameras or home camera videos, secretly filming... attract from tens to hundreds of thousands of members.

Many members take videos from this place and share them in many other places, causing the spread of these private videos to increase exponentially. Many groups and clubs even set up VIP rooms that require users to pay from several hundred thousand to millions of dong to join.

These VIP rooms are advertised as providing the most "special" home camera videos, including celebrities. Some individuals even sell access to camera systems of many families, stores, and spas to people with sick needs...

Posing as someone interested in VIP accounts, Tuoi Tre reporter talked with a representative of the group's administrator specializing in providing hacked camera accounts in Vietnam (meaning users only need an account to be able to log into the cameras of victims whose accounts have been hijacked but who don't know it and monitor themselves).

According to the sharing, VIP group members are divided into 3 types of accounts: the type that can only watch videos extracted from the camera; the type that uses QR code to watch the camera directly via the app and the Full-VIP type with all the highest benefits and an advertised usage period of forever.

At the lowest VIP level, users can choose a trial package for 150,000 VND to watch available videos or choose a professional package (with new videos constantly updated) for 500,000 VND. The second VIP level costs 400,000 VND and the Full-VIP level costs 800,000 VND. The packages are... indefinite or until the owner knows and locks it. Payment can be via bank transfer or cryptocurrency.

Don't be subjective and greedy when using security cameras.

According to statistics from the monitoring system of the former Ministry of Information and Communications (now the Ministry of Science and Technology), more than 800,000 surveillance cameras in Vietnam are having their image data shared publicly on the Internet, of which 360,000 cameras (accounting for 45%) have risks, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities that can be easily exploited for attacks and control.

Cybersecurity experts believe that the cause is due to subjectivity, or possibly lack of knowledge, causing security cameras to "betray their owners". Specifically, many users when using security cameras completely leave it to the seller or technician to install the device. They only need to know how to mount the device on the wall, open the app on the phone and view the live image without worrying about the management account or login password. This is the biggest loophole, opening the door for bad guys to share, hackers can easily attack cameras with easy-to-guess passwords.

In particular, due to the desire for cheapness, many users choose to buy old cameras, floating products, unknown origins, and strange brands. Just by quickly searching on social networking sites or e-commerce platforms, users can easily find many sellers selling these types of cameras, the selling price is sometimes only a few tens of thousands of VND/unit.

According to cybersecurity experts, this type of camera may be faulty, has a pre-installed management account, and has not been upgraded by the manufacturer or patched for security holes... Users who buy it for use also open the door for hackers to enter their home.

Be careful with all devices that have cameras.

Not only through home security cameras, modern technology toys that can communicate with people thanks to cameras are also being attacked by cybercriminals, especially targeting children. In 2024, Kaspersky researchers discovered vulnerabilities in smart toy robots that could make children targets for cybercriminals. This vulnerability allows hackers to control the robot system to video chat with children without parental consent.

Kaspersky did not specify, but said it was an Android-powered children's toy robot equipped with a camera and microphone. The device allows parents to monitor their children's learning progress and make video calls with them through the robot.

Experts warn parents to be vigilant with devices with cameras because cybercriminals can interfere and steal images and data, activate live video calls with children, and thereby manipulate and seduce children.

20 million

That is the number of surveillance cameras used in 2025, according to estimates from the General Department of Customs. On average, Vietnam imports about 3.2 million cameras each year, of which Chinese brands account for 96.3%.

What to pay attention to when installing security cameras in the house?

Camera installed in people's houses in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: Q. DINH

According to cybersecurity experts, when installing and setting up the camera for the first time, users should change the default password to a strong password (with uppercase, lowercase, numbers, special characters, etc.). Two-factor authentication (2FA) should be applied. Users should also regularly check for security patches and upgrade software.

Users should limit the placement of cameras in sensitive locations such as bedrooms and bathrooms to ensure both security and personal privacy. At the same time, they should regularly check access logs to detect suspicious activities and take timely measures.

In case of using cloud data storage services, users should choose services from reputable providers with commitments to security and compliance with international safety standards.

Many "black" channels have camera hacking content

On July 16, Tuyen Quang Provincial Police announced that the Security Investigation Agency had decided to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused, and temporarily detain two individuals for the crime of disseminating obscene cultural products because they had created 387 websites to post more than 22,000 pornographic videos to earn advertising money.

Previously, the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (Ministry of Public Security) announced statistics showing that 68% of channels and groups on the Telegram platform in Vietnam out of a total of 9,600 channels are bad and toxic. Among them, there are many channels with adult video content, camera hacking, secret filming...

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bi-rao-ban-clip-nhay-cam-tu-camera-nha-minh-20250728081528167.htm