The government recently confirmed that an unidentified hacking group stole and sold internal data from domestic medical and educational institutions and online shopping malls through a "hacking forum," and issued a security-strengthening advisory. A hacking forum is an online community where illegal cyber activities such as sharing hacking information, selling stolen data, and distributing malware take place.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) said on the 7th that "in particular, a chain of hacks targeting small websites has occurred, and we asked related corporations and institutions to strengthen security activities and exercise caution to prevent additional cyberattacks and the spread of damage," and stated accordingly.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and KISA immediately shared indications of security incidents with domestic victim institutions and corporations identified on hacking forums from December last year to the 5th. They then checked whether incidents had occurred, and if an incident was confirmed, they guided them to report the incident to KISA under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection to receive technical support for cause analysis and the establishment of measures to prevent recurrence.
Seventeen institutions and corporations, including Chungbuk National University, were included among the targets. Coupang was not among the targets.
On the 6th of this month, to prevent additional data theft and other damage, they posted a notice titled "Request to strengthen corporate security due to the recent increase in incidents" on the Boho Nara website.
The two agencies said they will continue to strengthen monitoring of whether domestic information is being illegally distributed on the dark web and hacking forums, and will support systematic technical assistance and the establishment of measures to prevent recurrence for corporations where incidents occur.