Personal information of prominent domestic figures has been found to have been stolen by a hacking organization.
Police stated that while investigating a recent hacking incident involving the server of a private authentication agency in South Korea, they confirmed that the leaked data contained the personal information of key domestic figures.
It was found that information typically found on business cards—such as phone numbers, affiliations, and job titles—was leaked, and the victims reportedly include high-ranking officials from Cheong Wa Dae.
Police, who have launched a full-scale investigation under the direction of the National Office of Investigation, have assigned the case to the Busan Provincial Police Agency to gather relevant intelligence.
Police explained, "The Cheong Wa Dae servers themselves were not hacked," adding that they are currently investigating the breach route of the authentication agency's server, the exact scope of the information actually secured by the hackers, and whether there are any additional damages.
Separately, it was revealed that a hacking organization presumed to be backed by North Korea attacked servers of a domestic media company's management vendor, a pharmaceutical company, and hospitals. Police drew a line, stating that this is a separate incident from the previous private authentication agency hacking.
While assessing the scale of additional damage, the police are also looking into potential links with the North Korean strategic hacking group "Lazarus."
Lazarus, which first gained attention in 2014 for hacking the U.S. Hollywood film studio Sony Pictures, has recently expanded its cyberattacks across various sectors worldwide, including not only South Korean government and public institutions, but also businesses, finance, and cryptocurrency.
(Reported by Kim Taewon | Video edited by Seo Byeong-wook | Design by Yang Hae-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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