The Yomiuri Shimbun
20:00 JST, November 4, 2025
About 500 pieces of live footage taken from network cameras installed indoors or on a property’s premises in Japan and connected to the internet have been publicly accessible on overseas websites, according to a joint investigation by The Yomiuri Shimbun and Tokyo-based information security company Trend Micro Inc.
The indoor footage included 90 instances from locations such as a nursery school and a food factory. Most indoor cameras whose locations and conditions could be confirmed were installed for purposes such as security, monitoring and safety management, and the footage was being publicly released on the sites without permission.
In September and October, The Yomiuri Shimbun and Trend Micro investigated websites that collect and publicly release live footage from network cameras in Japan and abroad. Seven sites operating overseas were confirmed to have such footage.
These seven sites had at least about 27,000 pieces of footage in total, with about 1,340 pieces classified as originating from Japan.
Among the footage from Japan, 90 pieces were believed to have been recorded indoors, while over 400 were recorded on a property’s premises.
To notify those who had their indoor footage publicly shared on the overseas sites, The Yomiuri Shimbun investigated the camera locations based on information seen in the footage.
As a result, about 20 locations were identified, including a nursery school in the Kansai region, a food processing factory in the Tokai region, a bread factory in the Kanto region and an equipment company in the Kyushu region. The Yomiuri Shimbun was able to interview 11 people from these locations.
All 11 acknowledged the footage leaks after being notified by The Yomiuri Shimbun. Deficiencies were confirmed with cameras at these locations, such as password authentication not having been set or the video’s public access range having been incorrectly set. The people took measures such as reviewing their settings.
The indoor footage also included locations that appeared to be a supermarket, a facility for the elderly, a restaurant and a laundromat, although where the cameras were installed could not be identified.
Footage from a property’s premises showed the entrances to a private house and an apartment building, the grounds of a shrine, a parking lot and a garage.
Other outdoor footage exceeded 700 pieces, including live videos from tourist spots and elsewhere. In addition, about 80 instances had unclear footage.
According to Naoto Narita, a senior specialist at Trend Micro, who jointly investigated the issue, the seven websites appear to be operated by individuals out of curiosity.
Viewing unauthorized camera footage requires having the unique Internet Protocol addresses assigned to each camera. It is possible for someone to use specialized programs to collect and make public the IP addresses of vulnerable cameras, according to Narita.
“It is surprising that there were so many vulnerable cameras, which reflects a lack of security awareness,” Narita said. “With improvements in image search capabilities, for example, it has become easier to identify the locations of cameras based on footage, raising concern about potential criminal misuse. People installing such cameras should implement thorough security measures.”
When investigating the locations where cameras were installed, The Yomiuri Shimbun consulted a lawyer specializing in information security and confirmed that viewing the footage via management interfaces of cameras through websites does not violate laws such as the Law on Prohibition of Unauthorized Computer Access.
