35 Million Accounts Vulnerable After New Hacks Hit South Korea Tech Industry

A new slew of cyber attacks have hit South Korea-based SK Communications service, Cyworld and NATE leaving as many as 35 million account holder's personal information compromised.

The hack reportedly left information such as the account holders names, phone numbers and email addresses compromised.

The company did also report that some passwords may also have been taken, but was quick to add that they were all encrypted and thus unusable without the encryption key.

A subsequent statement by SK Communications clarified:

"The company has confirmed that a leak of customers' information has taken place due to hacking on July 26.

"The specific scale of the hacking is still being investigated, but it is estimated that some of the personal information of 35 million Nate and Cyworld members have been leaked."

Alongside the statement, SK Communications CEO Joo Hyung-chul also issued a public apology:

"Concerning this incident, we offer our apology to our customers and have taken all the necessary measures to minimize the impact and identify the cause and retrieve customer information in cooperation with the authorities."

The attacks were first announced by the Korean Communications Commission. The commission alleged that the attacks originated from IP addresses in China and that the South Korean Authorities were already investigating the breach.

The latest attack is one of many to hit the country. On 29 March several other military, financial and government institutions and companies all suffered a cyber attacks. After the latest hacks the Korean Communications Commission has gone so far as to estimate that half of South Korea's citizens have now been affected by hacking.