It is believed that 10,000 records of current and retired diplomats were hacked
Foreign Ministry spokesman Park II told reporters on Tuesday that the system containing nearly 10,000 records of current and retired diplomats had been compromised by an unknown hacker.
Park did not confirm how many records were accessed, but Yonhap News Agency reported that any sensitive data such as ID numbers, mobile phone numbers or home addresses did not appear to have been affected.“It appears that a large amount of data has been leaked,” Park said. He added: “The government does not rule out any possibilities, including hacking of behind-the-scenes organizations that include other countries.”Yonhap reported that the ministry was notified by a relevant government agency in early February about suspicious access to the academy’s online education system.
The ministry shut down the system, which has remained offline since the investigation began.South Korea is still reeling from a series of cybersecurity incidents, including the high-profile hack of Coupang, a leading online retailer. Last year, regulators discovered that a former employee improperly accessed personal information from nearly 34 million accounts, or about two-thirds of the country’s population.North Korean hackers have carried out a series of cyberattacks in recent years, including the largest digital theft in the history of cryptocurrencies in February last year.(This is a Bloomberg story)