Seoul, Aug 27 (IANS) South Korea’s privacy watchdog said on Thursday it has fined machinery company HD Construction Equipment 73.5 million won ($53,200) over a personal information leak that affected over 9,000 workers.
The Personal Information Protection Commission also levied a fine of 4.8 million won on its affiliate, HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, which served as the access point for the breach, reports Yonhap news agency.
The regulator’s investigation found that an unidentified hacker breached HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering’s mobile equipment management server in March 2024, and gained access to the machinery company’s system.
The hacker then stole the personal data of 9,503 workers of HD Construction Equipment and contractor companies, which included their names and employee identification numbers.
The regulator said the two companies did not restrict access between their systems even when such access was not needed, allowing the hacker to steal the data.
Meanwhile, privacy watchdog said late last month that it fined wireless carrier KT Corp. 53.9 billion won (US$37.4 million) over a major data breach that affected more than 16,000 users.
The Personal Information Protection Commission also ordered KT to take corrective measures over the breach into the company’s wireless network through unauthorised mobile base stations.
The breach, first reported by the company in September, affected phone numbers and mobile device identification numbers of 16,647 users, according to the regulator.
Malicious actors then used the information to carry out unauthorised transactions, leading to losses of 240 million won in total for 368 victims.
The watchdog said the hackers went unnoticed while they accessed KT’s wireless network between Oct. 8, 2024, and Sept. 5, 2025, adding the company only realised the breach had occurred after a user complaint.
The hackers had gained access to the network by building illegal base stations using authentication certificates extracted from base stations KT had lost.
—IANS
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