Leaked data includes dates of birth, encrypted card numbers

An exterior view of the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. headquarters in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon [Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp.]
An exterior view of the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. headquarters in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon [Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp.]

Personal data belonging to 3,083 users of Chak, a mobile local gift voucher platform operated by the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp., has been leaked following unauthorized external access to the system.

The corporation said it detected signs of abnormal access on the Chak system at around 9:30 a.m. Friday and blocked the internet protocol address suspected of carrying out the attack.

It then blocked all access from overseas IP addresses and suspended service on the targeted servers as a priority measure. The corporation said it restored normal service after implementing emergency security measures.

An investigation confirmed that an unauthorized external party had accessed the system and viewed some users' personal information. As of 6 a.m. Saturday, the confirmed categories of leaked data included names, dates of birth, mobile phone numbers, bank account numbers, connected information (CI), email addresses and encrypted card numbers.

The scope of the leak varied by user. A total of 3,072 users had two or fewer data categories exposed — such as name and date of birth, or CI and encrypted card number — while 11 users had three to four categories leaked.

The corporation has reported the incident to the Korea Internet & Security Agency and other relevant authorities and is cooperating with their investigation. It is also notifying affected users of the confirmed details of the breach, the categories of personal information accessed and precautions they can take to protect themselves from further harm.

"We feel a profound sense of responsibility that an incident of this nature occurred at a public institution that is obligated to safeguard personal information," a Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. official said, offering an apology. "We will focus all of our efforts on preventing further damage and protecting our customers."


forest@heraldcorp.com