It appears that most victims in KT's unauthorized micro-payment hacking case were users of 5G (fifth-generation mobile) devices. The industry believes many of them were on 5G plans. There is criticism that KT's claim that the hacking occurred only on LTE was a vague explanation intended to downplay the incident.
According to the industry on the 24th, of the 362 victims in KT's unauthorized micro-payment case, 343, or 94.7%, were users of 5G devices. The company said it cannot confirm how many of them were on 5G plans.
KT has said that the unauthorized micro-payment hacking occurred only on LTE. On the 11th, Ku Jae-hyeong, head of KT's Network Technology Division, said of the hacking, "There were none on 5G. This occurred only on LTE. There were none on 3G." The explanation was interpreted to mean that the victims were subscribers to LTE plans, but it appears that many 5G subscribers were also affected after switching to LTE signals.
KT says the explanation meant that the unregistered wireless communication device used in the incident (believed to be a femtocell) was LTE-based. The company said, "The affected customer may have been on a 5G plan, but the consolidation to the illegal base station was LTE," adding, "This means the hacker used LTE, not 5G."