Personal Information Commission: "Leak from SKT Main Server... Fine Likely to Be Very High" (Comprehensive)

Occurred at the Nation's Leading Telecom Company
Reported One Day Late, Must Face Appropriate Punishment

Choi Janghyuk, Vice Chairman of the Personal Information Protection Commission, stated on the 29th regarding the SK Telecom hacking incident, "We believe there was a leak of personal information from the main server."

Choi Janghyuk, Vice Chairman of the Personal Information Protection Commission, is holding the April regular briefing for the press corps at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 29th. Photo by Yonhap News

At a regular briefing held at the Government Seoul Office on this day, Vice Chairman Choi said, "The fact that the main server of the nation's leading telecommunications company was hacked is highly symbolic," expressing his views on the matter.

Vice Chairman Choi further explained, "While I do think there may have been insufficient safety measures, we need to conduct an investigation to determine the facts," adding, "We are focusing on the extent of the personal information contained in the hacked SIM cards and whether appropriate security measures were in place for the main server where the SIM cards were stored."

Regarding the prospect that SK Telecom, as the top mobile carrier with 23 million subscribers, could face a significant fine, Vice Chairman Choi said, "Basically, this is on a completely different level from the LG Uplus (personal information leak) case," and explained, "Since the LG Uplus incident occurred before the Personal Information Protection Act was amended, the amount of the fine for SK Telecom could be much higher."

Meanwhile, it has been determined that there is currently no evidence that users' information from this incident has flowed onto the dark web. Lee Jungeun, Head of Investigation Division 2 at the Personal Information Protection Commission, stated, "We are monitoring the dark web for personal information leaks in cooperation with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA)," and added, "There is no confirmation that the SK Telecom case has appeared on the dark web."

Meanwhile, regarding suspicions that SK Telecom was late in reporting the SIM card information hacking incident despite being aware of it, the Ministry of Science and ICT mentioned the possibility of 'appropriate punishment.' Yoo Sangim, Minister of Science and ICT, responded to related questions during a comprehensive policy inquiry at the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts at the National Assembly on this day, saying, "Since the report was delayed by about a day, they will receive punishment appropriate to that delay."