Samsung Phone Hacking Controversy Under Police Investigation... Samsung Electronics States "Not Hacking but Account Theft"

Samsung Electronics Denies Cloud Hacking Rumors
"Urges Strengthened Measures Including Two-Factor Authentication"

Samsung Electronics posted a notice on Samsung Members.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Samsung Electronics stated that the controversy over some celebrities' Galaxy smartphones being hacked is presumed to be due to account theft, not hacking of the smartphone or Samsung Cloud service.

According to industry sources on the 10th, the police have reportedly launched an investigation into the Galaxy smartphone hacking controversy involving some celebrities. This followed revelations that some celebrities, including actor Joo Jin-mo, were threatened with the release of private information.

On the same day, Samsung Electronics explained through a notice on the Samsung Members application, "The Galaxy phone or Samsung Cloud service was not hacked, and it is presumed that the hacking occurred after some users' accounts were leaked externally and then stolen."

Samsung Electronics also stated, "Personal information stored in the cloud is safely managed according to the privacy policy as long as the ID and password are not exposed," and added, "We have taken measures to prevent victims, but we ask users to strengthen security measures such as enabling two-factor authentication to use the service more safely and conveniently."

As methods to prevent account theft damage, Samsung Electronics suggested ▲ not using the same ID or password for other accounts as the Samsung account ▲ not exposing them to others ▲ regularly changing the Samsung account password ▲ and enabling two-step verification in the smartphone settings menu to enhance security.