"It's My Book, But Not Really"... 'E-Book Phobia' Grows After Yes24 Incident

Calls for Enhanced Security and Online Bookstore Guarantee Systems

Amid predictions that the so-called 'Yes24 incident,' which caused website and app access disruptions for a week, will lead to a decline in e-book users, concerns are growing that a drop in e-book sales could have a significant impact on the publishing industry.

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According to the publishing and online bookstore industry on June 15, Yes24 entered the final stage of server recovery work as of 3:00 p.m. on this day, following a hacking incident that had paralyzed its systems. While services such as 'Sarak,' 'ChannelYes,' and the English and Chinese sales sites remain inaccessible, book purchases, ticket reservations, and the subscription-based e-book service 'Crema Club' have been restored. Additionally, Yes24 stated that there was no indication of leakage of e-book data or personal information. Despite these recovery efforts, industry insiders expressed concerns about declining trust in e-book data. When a hacking incident in 2023 led to the leakage of approximately 720,000 won worth of e-books from the online bookstore Aladin, the e-book market also contracted.

Due to the nature of e-books, which require access to a website or app, their basic level of trust is lower than that of print books. In fact, a university student surnamed A, who uses 'Crema Club,' told Yonhap News, "There is little price difference between e-books and print books, but you become highly dependent on the service provider's situation. Even though I paid, I couldn't use the service, and the lackluster response to hacking incidents makes it difficult to trust them." Student A added, "I understand that providing e-book files such as PDF or ePUB poses risks for the company, but this incident has shown that even if you own an e-book, you can't really say you possess it."

E-books have become a lifeline for the publishing industry because, despite not requiring printing, storage, or distribution costs, their prices are maintained at 70 to 80 percent of print books due to fixed book pricing policies, resulting in higher profitability. According to the Korean Publishers Association and others, as of 2023, the domestic e-book market is worth around 1.3 trillion won, accounting for about 26 percent of the total publishing market (approximately 5 trillion won).

In Germany, revised civil law in 2022 imposed obligations such as maintenance, warranty, and free updates for e-books. The United Kingdom has specified e-book-related regulations in the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) since 2015, and in France, sellers are held responsible if problems occur with e-books within two years of purchase. In Korea as well, there are growing calls for multiple layers of protection to ensure e-book safety. The publishing industry points out that, from a long-term perspective, it is necessary to expand alternatives such as strengthening security and introducing online bookstore guarantee systems.

Meanwhile, on June 9, Yes24 announced that it had experienced a situation in which it was unable to control its systems due to a ransomware attack. Yes24 reportedly has more than 20 million customers.