Threatened by Removing DRM from 2.15 Million E-Books
Meticulous Tactics Including VPN Use to Evade Tracking
A group involved in hacking the online bookstore Aladin to illegally distribute e-books and extracting paid online lecture videos from an entrance exam company has been arrested.
On the 21st, the Cyber Investigation Bureau of the National Police Agency announced that they arrested a 16-year-old suspect, A, on the 19th on charges of extortion and violation of the Telecommunications Business Act, among others. A is accused of hacking the online bookstore Aladin to illegally obtain 5,000 e-books and leaking over 700 paid online lecture videos from entrance exam academies such as Megastudy, demanding Bitcoin from the victim companies.
According to the police, A obtained about 720,000 e-books from Aladin in May this year and distributed 5,000 of them while threatening, "If you do not pay 100 BTC (approximately 3.6 billion KRW), I will distribute the rest," thereby extorting 86 million KRW. Earlier, the police also arrested and sent to prosecution B (25) and C (29), who collected cash and participated in money laundering during the crime, on extortion charges while in custody. A, B, and C were found to have met through the online messenger Telegram.
A, a high school student, committed the crime by discovering the decryption key (a value similar to a password that can restore encrypted data to its original state) capable of removing DRM from e-books online. DRM is a technology that grants access rights only to authorized personnel and is widely used in music, movies, and book content.
Previously, in November last year, A similarly hacked into another online bookstore’s information and communication network to obtain decryption keys for about 1.43 million e-books. In July this year, A also removed DRM from about 700 lecture videos from two entrance exam academies, Megastudy and Sidae Injae, and distributed them. A is also charged with attempted extortion for demanding 5 BTC (approximately 180 million KRW) from the two academies. The e-books and lecture videos illegally obtained by A from four companies are estimated to be worth 20.3 billion KRW based on their sales prices.
Police investigations revealed that A had a strong interest in DRM removal methods and, after discovering security vulnerabilities in the victim companies, had programming skills sufficient to create an automated program to decrypt the e-books’ encryption. Furthermore, A showed meticulousness by threatening companies via internet messengers, demanding Bitcoin instead of cash, and using virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask IP addresses, making tracking difficult.
The police have recovered all the e-book decryption keys stored on A’s personal computer and cloud storage and confirmed that no additional materials beyond the already distributed 5,000 e-books and about 700 lecture videos have been leaked. They are also tracking whether the distributed e-books are being circulated through Telegram and community sites. If illegal distribution is discovered, the police will actively pursue and arrest those involved, and in cooperation with related agencies such as the Korea Communications Standards Commission, will take measures to delete and block the content. Additionally, the Korea Internet & Security Agency will share the security vulnerabilities of the DRM exploited by A with the victim companies and recommend the development of standardized e-book security technologies to related agencies to prevent further damage.
A police official stated, “We plan to actively respond in collaboration with related agencies to crimes that threaten the very existence of the electronic content distribution ecosystem.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
