KT Corp, South Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier, has admitted that hackers might have stolen personal data from over 5,500 users in a recent mobile payment hack. The company issued a public apology on Thursday, promising full compensation to those hit by the breach.
In a statement, KT revealed: “We confirmed a possible leak of international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) data affecting 5,561 users.” The firm quickly reported the issue to the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) and sent text messages to affected customers about support options.
KT’s CEO, Kim Young-shub, stepped up at a press conference to say sorry. “We sincerely apologise to all customers affected by unauthorized mobile payments,” he told reporters, according to Yonhap news agency. “We will do our utmost to prevent further damage and provide full compensation to victims.”
The trouble started on August 27, when some KT users – mainly in southwestern Seoul – noticed strange charges on their phones. So far, officials have verified 278 cases of unauthorized mobile payments totaling 170 million won, or about $122,000.
What went wrong? KT explained that illegal, unregistered micro base stations sneaked into its network, exposing IMSI data – a unique code stored in your phone’s USIM chip that identifies subscribers. Hackers can misuse this info for fraud. Around 19,000 KT customers’ phones connected to these rogue stations at least once, but only 5,561 had their IMSI data potentially leaked. Not everyone faced financial losses.
To help, KT plans to replace USIM chips for free and offer a USIM protection service to all 19,000 impacted users. The government has also formed a special team to investigate the data breach.
This incident hits close to home after SK Telecom’s huge data leak earlier this year, which exposed info from over 20 million users. It’s sparking fresh worries about data security at South Korea’s telecom giants and pushing calls for stronger protections against mobile payment hacks.
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