Possible leak of information of all South Korean diplomats due to data breach

Yesterday, officials reported the possibility of a leak of the personal information of all South Korean diplomats, as a result of a data breach that affected the e-learning system of an institute affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

The Ministry revealed that it received notification in early February from a concerned government agency about suspicion of unauthorized access to the e-learning system of the Korean National Diplomatic Academy.

Upon receiving the notification, the Ministry shut down the system, which is still not working until now, while an investigation into the incident is currently underway.

An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the data breach was supposed to have affected all employees of the Ministry, including retirees, noting that the system contains about 10,000 records of personal data.

It is believed that an anonymous hacker was able to access the server between April and May of last year, and this access continued until last February.

It is believed that the hacked server contained educational videos and information about the trainees, including their names, usernames, positions, email addresses and encrypted passwords.

The list of those affected may also include officials from other government agencies who were sent to Korean diplomatic missions abroad, due to their occasional use of the system.