'E-Land on "Malicious Ransomware Damage": "Will Not Negotiate with Hackers"'

Customer Information Encrypted and Managed on Separate Servers
No Risk of Leakage
"Will Set a Precedent for Cyberterrorism Response"

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] E-Land Group officially announced on the 24th that there will be no negotiations with the hacker group that launched a ransomware attack targeting the headquarters server in the early hours of the 22nd.

An E-Land official stated, "There were continuous threats and monetary demands from the ransomware distributors presumed to be overseas," adding, "We judged that paying money to the criminal group to resolve the cyberterrorism incident was not appropriate, so we refused to negotiate."

He continued, "Card information or important customer data, as claimed by the distributors, are encrypted and managed on different servers unrelated to this attack, so there has been no leakage and there is no possibility of such."

However, due to damage to the internal intranet and payment system-related servers at the headquarters caused by this incident, those servers have been blocked and are being newly configured, resulting in a delay in restoring internal operations and payment systems.

The E-Land official also said, "No matter what threats come from the cybercriminal group, we will neither yield nor compromise, and will focus on recovering damages and restoring systems through legitimate means," adding, "We will do our best with various institutions and experts to ensure this incident serves as a proper precedent for companies affected by cybercrime to return to normal."

E-Land Group was attacked by ransomware presumed to be overseas at around 3 a.m. on the 22nd. Among a total of 48 stores including NC Department Store and NewCore Outlet, card payment terminals became unusable in 23 stores, half of the total, in some fashion stores. However, some restaurants using different card payment systems and the mart 'Kim's Club' were not exposed to the attack. After confirming this, E-Land temporarily closed stores to prevent further damage and took internal measures, and requested an investigation by the police. A task force team (TFT) led by Vice Chairman Choi Jong-yang, the group’s representative, was also formed.