The worst data breach ever in over a decade has just happened, scrambling not only the South Korean police force but also has hit millions of consumer IP addresses.
According to a report by Reuters, there were over 33 million customers effected by this leak that started back on June 24th, however the company hadn’t even learned of the problem until November 18th.
As of right now, shipping addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, customer names, and even order histories, as well as login credentials and payment histories have been leaked.
With the preliminary investigation done, its been revealed by Broadcaster JTBC that Coupang suspects a Chinese former employee, who was responsible for authentication work and tasks, was a key figure in his breach.
Whats known for certain is that a former employee’s authentication key was used, following their termination to access this information, according to lawmaker Choi Min-hee who issued a statement today.
According to the Korea Times over 70,000 people have even planned to join a class action lawsuit against the company, and the potential for compensation, per person currently stands at 100,000 won ($68), per lawyer Ha Hee-bong.
The e-commerce giant has been a key figure, servicing online customer needs since 2010, and is even considered one of the most popular platforms, but what is also pertinent to mention is that no demands for ransom have been made following the breach, according to the Korea Herald.
In their statement the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency claims, “we are currently analyzing server log records obtained from Coupang. The IP address used in the attack has been identified and is under active investigation.”
Separately the Korea Times also attempted to put a percentage to the amount of customers the e-commerce platform services on a daily and according to their findings, the number of people who have become a victim of the breach are nearly 65 percent of Korea’s population.
Experts within the industry, like Sookmyung Women’s University professor Suh Yong-gu have also voiced their concerns, warning “Coupang has grown rapidly in size, but its internal organization remains immature, resulting in a lack of systems to strengthen corporate ethics and social responsibility.”
Hence “Coupang should move beyond investing heavily in logistics infrastructure and increase investment in people and social systems to reinforce its responsibility as a corporate citizen.”
