Korea consumer agency rules SK Telecom should pay W2.3tr over data breach – theinvestor.co.kr
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The recommendation comes a month after SKT rejected a separate mediation proposal that could have totaled 7 trillion won in damages.
South Korea’s consumer protection body has recommended SK Telecom pay compensation of 100,000 won ($67.50) per person to millions of users affected by a massive data breach, marking another mediation proposal that could again test the telecom giant’s willingness to accept regulatory-led compensation.
The Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission under the Korea Consumer Agency said Sunday it has issued a mediation proposal calling on SK Telecom to compensate victims of the April breach with a 50,000-won discount on phone bills and 50,000 won in redeemable points.
If SK Telecom accepts the proposal and applies it to all eligible victims, including those not directly participating in the dispute, the total payout could reach over 2.3 trillion won ($1.56 billion), based on an estimated 23 million affected users.
The company has 15 days from receipt of the commission’s decision to respond. If accepted, the decision carries the legal effect of a court settlement. Failure to respond will be treated as consent under the mediation process rules.
The data breach, one of the largest in Korea’s telecom history, involved malware infiltrating 28 core servers, including the Home Subscriber Server used for user authentication. Investigations found that SK Telecom failed to encrypt sensitive information and stored administrator credentials in plain text, leading to the exposure of nearly 10 gigabytes of data from 26.96 million users. In August, the Personal Information Protection Commission fined SK Telecom 134.8 billion won, calling the incident “extremely grave due to negligence.” The company said in November that it is considering an administrative lawsuit to challenge the penalty.
The latest mediation also follows a separate proposal in November by the Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee under the PIPC, which recommended that SK Telecom pay 300,000 won per person to roughly 4,000 claimants. The company rejected that proposal, stating that prior voluntary compensation measures had not been adequately considered.
If this earlier proposal had been applied across all affected users, total liability could have reached nearly 7 trillion won.
SK Telecom said Sunday that it had not yet received the latest decision but would review it carefully. In August, the company announced more than 1.2 trillion won in spending on customer support and cybersecurity upgrades, including a 500 billion won customer relief package and a 700 billion won investment in data protection.
SK Telecom reported 1.82 trillion won in operating profit and 1.43 trillion won in net income for 2024.
If the company refuses the new mediation, affected users would likely continue pursuing compensation through civil lawsuits.
By Moon Joon-hyun (mjh@heraldcorp.com)
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This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
▶본문 바로가기
The recommendation comes a month after SKT rejected a separate mediation proposal that could have totaled 7 trillion won in damages.
South Korea’s consumer protection body has recommended SK Telecom pay compensation of 100,000 won ($67.50) per person to millions of users affected by a massive data breach, marking another mediation proposal that could again test the telecom giant’s willingness to accept regulatory-led compensation.
The Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission under the Korea Consumer Agency said Sunday it has issued a mediation proposal calling on SK Telecom to compensate victims of the April breach with a 50,000-won discount on phone bills and 50,000 won in redeemable points.
If SK Telecom accepts the proposal and applies it to all eligible victims, including those not directly participating in the dispute, the total payout could reach over 2.3 trillion won ($1.56 billion), based on an estimated 23 million affected users.
The company has 15 days from receipt of the commission’s decision to respond. If accepted, the decision carries the legal effect of a court settlement. Failure to respond will be treated as consent under the mediation process rules.
The data breach, one of the largest in Korea’s telecom history, involved malware infiltrating 28 core servers, including the Home Subscriber Server used for user authentication. Investigations found that SK Telecom failed to encrypt sensitive information and stored administrator credentials in plain text, leading to the exposure of nearly 10 gigabytes of data from 26.96 million users. In August, the Personal Information Protection Commission fined SK Telecom 134.8 billion won, calling the incident “extremely grave due to negligence.” The company said in November that it is considering an administrative lawsuit to challenge the penalty.
The latest mediation also follows a separate proposal in November by the Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee under the PIPC, which recommended that SK Telecom pay 300,000 won per person to roughly 4,000 claimants. The company rejected that proposal, stating that prior voluntary compensation measures had not been adequately considered.
If this earlier proposal had been applied across all affected users, total liability could have reached nearly 7 trillion won.
SK Telecom said Sunday that it had not yet received the latest decision but would review it carefully. In August, the company announced more than 1.2 trillion won in spending on customer support and cybersecurity upgrades, including a 500 billion won customer relief package and a 700 billion won investment in data protection.
SK Telecom reported 1.82 trillion won in operating profit and 1.43 trillion won in net income for 2024.
If the company refuses the new mediation, affected users would likely continue pursuing compensation through civil lawsuits.
By Moon Joon-hyun (mjh@heraldcorp.com)
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source
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
