[비즈한국] A personal data breach has occurred at the domestic over-the-top (OTT) service TVING. On the 3rd, TVING announced that it had confirmed signs of member information being leaked externally due to unauthorized hacker access to the database (DB) where user personal information is stored.
TVING notified its users of the data breach and issued an apology through notices on its website and application that day. According to TVING, abnormal access to the database storing personal information was detected on the 2nd. The company believes an unidentified hacker accessed the DB and transferred personal information files externally. The exact cause of the incident and the scale of the damage are currently under investigation.
The leaked personal information items include User IDs, names, dates of birth, genders, Connecting Information (CI), Duplicate Subscription Verification Information (DI), mobile phone numbers, email addresses, refund bank account numbers, and passwords. However, the last four digits of the mobile phone numbers were encrypted, and the ID portion of the email addresses, excluding the domain, was also encrypted. Refund account numbers and passwords were also confirmed to have been leaked in an encrypted format. In particular, passwords were found to be stored using one-way encryption. TVING explained that resident registration numbers and payment-related information were not included in the leak as the company does not hold such data.
The leaked items included the CI, which is a unique value used to identify verified users. While account access or financial transactions are not possible with CI alone, concerns have been raised that it could be misused to identify users if combined with personal information leaked from other sources.
Immediately after becoming aware of the breach, TVING stated that it blocked the attacker's IP, changed its cloud access control policies, and strengthened monitoring of DB access. In accordance with relevant laws, the company has reported the incident to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and is investigating the cause and the scope of the impact.
Users have been advised to change their passwords for TVING and any other services that use the same account information. The company is accepting reports of damages through its customer service center if users receive suspicious calls or emails involving potential misuse of their personal information.
The scope of the impact of this incident has not yet been confirmed. TVING had approximately 7.7 million monthly active users (MAU) as of April, raising the possibility that a significant number of users could be affected depending on the investigation results.
In its notice, TVING stated, "We sincerely apologize for causing concern to our customers due to this security incident," adding, "We are thoroughly verifying the cause and scope of the incident while prioritizing customer protection measures, and we will transparently disclose the facts as they are confirmed." The company further added, "We will faithfully cooperate with investigations by the government and relevant authorities and do our utmost to prepare measures to prevent recurrence."