South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday demanded swift and severe penalties for those responsible for a massive data breach at e-commerce giant Coupang that exposed personal information belonging to more than 33 million customers. Lee called it “astonishing” that the company failed to detect the intrusion for five months and said the “scale of the damage is massive.”
Coupang, the country’s largest online retailer known for its rapid delivery service, has been at the center of mounting public anger since the government disclosed that the breach occurred through overseas servers between June 24 and November 8. According to police and local media, the company only became aware of the breach last month and filed a complaint in November against the suspected perpetrator—a former employee who is a Chinese national.
Lee ordered his government to “strengthen fines and make punitive damages a reality,” urging ministries and regulators to prepare “substantive and effective countermeasures.” He said investigators must quickly identify the cause of the breach and “hold those responsible strictly accountable.”
Police said Monday they are tracing IP addresses and probing possible international cooperation behind the intrusion, warning that the leak could “threaten the daily lives and safety of every single citizen.” Coupang has notified customers that exposed data includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and some order histories. The company said that payment information and login credentials were not compromised.
The Coupang incident follows a series of major cybersecurity breaches in South Korea. In August, mobile carrier SK Telecom was fined about 134 billion won ($91 million) after a cyberattack compromised data on nearly 27 million users. South Korea, one of the world’s most connected countries, has increasingly been targeted by sophisticated hacking groups, including those linked to North Korea.
Last year, police concluded that North Korean operatives were behind the theft of sensitive financial records from a South Korean court computer network over a two-year period. And in November, Yonhap News Agency reported that authorities suspect a North Korean hacking group may be linked to the recent attack on cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, which resulted in the unauthorized withdrawal of 44.5 billion won in digital assets.
Source: AFP
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
