An electronic attack on the South Korea mobile operator displays information about approximately 27 million users
Electronic attack against SKT Teleom (SKT), The largest phone operator in South KoreaI have been exposed to information that was at risk of approximately 27 million SIM cards, equivalent to half of the population, and has led to a social warning in the face of the increasing guesses that the infiltration could be the work of a group of Chinese infiltrators.
The results known on Monday were determined by the joint investigation between the authorities and experts in the private sector in the accident The attack started nearly three years agoOn June 15, 2022, when the first “harmful programs” were installed on the company’s servers.
Since then until April 18, distortions were discovered, The virus extended to at least 23 serversSome of them contain private use information such as names, birth dates, phone numbers, email messages and unique mobile devices (IMEI), as detailed in search equipment in its report.
The analysis also reveals that the affected servers allowed access to 25 different types of personal dataIncluding the USM card authentication keys. It also indicates that the lack of records between June 2022 and DECEMBER 2024 prevents the disposal of these data such as IMEI has been stolen.
Private sector analysts They are suspected that the Red Menche GroupAnd it is the organization of the infiltrators associated with China through cybersecurity and supported by Beijing, responsible for the attack, given its previous link using the BPDOOR infiltration program on similar telecom companies in Asia. Cyber security signatures such as PWC and Trend Micro follow the group activities in the region.
The infiltrators used “Web Shell” technology
In the case of SKT, a technique known as “Web Shell” was also discovered, allowing the attackers cOreiar servers committed remote.
Professor Em Jong In, from the University of Korea, considers that the scale and method of implementing the electronic attack can respond to a strategy directed towards it Disable the main infrastructure in the event of conflictInstead of the simple theft of personal information, as mentioned by the local news agency.
In total, 26.96 million SIM cards were hacked, according to the report, and until now, SKT has replaced or modified more than 1.9 millionIt is a number that is expected to increase in the coming months in the midst of the show problems.
On the other hand, 2.5 million users joined the fraud protection service and More than 9000 have started collective demands for damageClaiming economic compensation and increasing transparency in the real scope of nomination.
The company estimates potential losses Up to 7 billion Winz ($ 5,000 million), according to CEO, Ryu Young-Sang, in front of the National Parliament.
SK group head, Chey Tae-WonI offered a general apology to the scandal at the beginning of the month, with acknowledging the failure to communicate and respond
