The personal information of all South Korean diplomats is believed to have been leaked due to a data breach at the Korean National Diplomatic Academy, officials said Tuesday. The academy, in southern Seoul, is seen here Tuesday. Photo by Yonhap
Personal information of all South Korean diplomats was presumed to be leaked due to a data breach at an online education system run by an institution affiliated with the foreign ministry, officials said Tuesday.
The ministry disclosed Monday it had been notified by a relevant government agency in early February about suspicious access to the online education system of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA). Upon the notification, the ministry shut down the system, which has remained offline since. An investigation is under way.
The data breach was presumed to affect all ministry personnel, including retirees, an official at the foreign ministry said, noting the system held approximately 10,000 records of personal data.
An unidentified hacker is believed to have gained access to the server sometime between April and May last year, and maintained that access until February.
The compromised server is believed to have stored educational videos and information on trainees, including their names, user IDs, positions, email addresses and encrypted passwords. Officials from other government agencies who had been deployed to South Korea’s overseas missions may also be among those affected, given that they occasionally use the system.
No “sensitive personal data,” such as identification numbers, mobile phone numbers or home addresses, appeared to be affected, the ministry official said, noting that there may be some overlap among the individuals whose information was compromised.
The official said the ministry could not yet confirm whether all the data stored in the system had been compromised, adding that the 10,000 figure represents the maximum possible number of cases affected.
The ministry currently lacks the technical analysis needed to identify the attacker, the official said.
“We do not rule out any possibility, including involvement by overseas hacker groups,” the official added. “We regard this as a situation with implications for national security.”
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