Interpark falls prey to email scam

[THE INVESTOR] The servers of leading Korean e-commerce firm Interpark were hacked, compromising its customers’ personal information including email addresses, and phone numbers, according to news reports July 26.

A group of hackers, who accessed the firm’s servers with overseas IPs, stole around 10.3 million pieces of personal data in May. 

The hackers reportedly sent emails with malicious codes to Interpark employees and got access to the sensitive data.

After successfully getting their hands on the customer information, the hackers blackmailed the company for money, threatening to make the information public.

“I cannot give excuses for failing to protect the information of our customers,” Kang Dong-hwa, the chief executive of the firm, told Korean daily Kyunghyang Shinmun, vowing to closely cooperate with the Korean police in the investigation.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it has formed an investigation team, consisting of government officials and experts, to identify the hackers.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)