Personal Data of 113,000 Users Leaked from Korea Food Industry Association

Signs of a personal data breach involving approximately 113,000 individuals have been confirmed in the online hygiene education system (LMS) of the Korea Food Industry Association.

The association announced this on its website on June 26 and stated on June 28 that it has notified the affected individuals via individual text messages.

The association is a special legal entity established under Article 64 of the Food Sanitation Act, aimed at promoting the development of the food industry, improving food hygiene, fostering mutual interests among food manufacturers, and enhancing public health.

The system in question is operated by Mediopia Tech, an edutech company commissioned by the association.

Under the Food Sanitation Act, food business operators and employees are required to complete mandatory annual training on topics such as food poisoning prevention and food safety management through this system.

The association explained, "During a system check on June 24, 2026, Mediopia Tech identified signs of abnormal access presumed to be an external attack, as well as the creation of files containing personal information."

The eight items of personal information suspected to have been leaked include user IDs, encrypted passwords, names, genders, job titles, business phone numbers, mobile phone numbers, and email addresses.

An official from the association stated, "We have confirmed signs of a leak involving the personal information of 112,728 people who received training in the first half of this year," adding that "the system is structured to delete personal information one year after registration."

The association has completed emergency security measures, including isolating the affected server, blocking the attacking IP address, and strengthening firewalls, and is cooperating with the investigation after reporting the incident to relevant authorities.

"We are doing our utmost to prevent further damage by blocking access routes and reporting to the authorities," the association emphasized. "We apologize once again for this unfortunate incident, despite our obligation to protect your valuable personal information."

The association also advised users to be cautious of smishing and phishing attempts via suspicious texts, emails, or phone calls, and urged them not to respond to requests for payments, transfers, or authentication codes that claim to be related to this incident.

(Photo: Screenshot of the Korea Food Industry Association website, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.