[Anchor]
A group has been arrested by police for hacking 8.2 million personal records from major corporate affiliates and hospitals using artificial intelligence. They also attempted to extort hundreds of millions of won by threatening to leak the hacked data. It was revealed that they used the exact same system suspected of being used in recent financial sector hacks.
Reporter Jeong Jiyeon has the details.
[Reporter]
Police handcuff a man pulling a cap down over his face.
[Did you hack and blackmail them...]
A group that spent a year starting from September of last year hacking the computer networks of some 90 domestic companies using generative artificial intelligence has been apprehended by the police.
They face charges of stealing 8.2 million personal records from cram schools, hospitals, and major corporate affiliates, and then demanding money and valuables under the threat of distributing the data.
Investigations revealed that the group sent emails containing the hacked information, including names, addresses, and phone numbers, threatening that if the hacking became known, the companies would suffer damaged reputations and face heavy fines. They demanded a total of 360 million won worth of cryptocurrency from 38 companies.
After receiving a complaint from a victim company in June, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency launched an investigation and arrested seven members of the group, including the mastermind, four months later.
The mastermind, surnamed A, learned hacking techniques through blogs and other sources while working on security inspection tasks at a security firm.
During the crime, they also used an "AI autonomous penetration system," which is believed to have been used in recent financial hacking incidents. Instead of humans, the AI automatically found system vulnerabilities, enabling the indiscriminate hacking of companies.
Police have transferred the mastermind, surnamed A, to the prosecution in custody and are investigating whether there are any additional hacking victims.
(Camera: Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing: Yoon Tae-ho | VJ: Noh Jae-min | Design: Kim Han-gil)
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