Seoul: The science ministry announced on Tuesday that it has initiated an official investigation into an alleged attempt to sell personal data purportedly leaked from SK Telecom Co., South Korea's leading mobile carrier.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the move followed a post by the global hacking group Scattered Lapsus$ on its Telegram channel, where it claimed it would sell SK Telecom's client data for US$10,000. The group further alleged that 42 South Koreans had already expressed interest in the data. The Ministry of Science and ICT responded by requesting SK Telecom to provide relevant materials and announced plans to verify the claims through on-site inspections.
The hacking group claimed that the data for sale includes customers' IDs, names, phone numbers, emails, addresses, and birth dates. They also issued a threat to SK Telecom, insisting that the company must engage in negotiations or risk the exposure of data belonging to 27 million users.
In April, SK Telecom reported that a cyberattack on its network servers might have compromised the private data of its entire user base. This incident prompted the government to launch an investigation into No. 2 mobile carrier KT Corp. as well, following reports of 278 unauthorized mobile payment cases amounting to 170 million won ($122,000), which raised concerns about a potential data leak.
A ministry official commented on the growing public concern regarding the recent data breaches, stating, "We plan to quickly check facts regarding related allegations and open the result to the public transparently."
However, SK Telecom has dismissed the hacking group's claims, asserting that the data in question was never leaked. An SK Telecom official stated, "After analyzing sample data, website screenshots, and file transfer protocol screens posted on the dark web, we concluded that all of the information is fake, and the website does not exist within our company's system." The official further clarified that the claimed 100 GB of data was never compromised.
The Korea Internet and Security Agency, in a report submitted to Rep. Choi Soo-jin of the main opposition People Power Party, revealed that the hacking group also attempted to sell the source code for SK Telecom's internal software for $250,000. The group claimed to have programs capable of intercepting text messages and tracking phone calls in real time, but SK Telecom has denied these assertions.