http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200804/200804180011.html Digital Chosun Ilbo April 18, 2008 Korea's Internet industry has been rocked by the news that the personal information of some 10.81 million users of Auction, the country's largest e-marketplace, was leaked in a hacking incident. The massive leak vividly demonstrates the vulnerability of Korea's e-marketplaces, which last year processed some W413 trillion (US$1=992) in online transactions. Several highly-publicized hacking incidents have proved an embarrassment for a country that prides itself on its technological savvy. After the attack on Auction earlier this year, Daum, the country's second-largest search engine, and Mirae Asset, the country's largest securities firm, were both attacked by hackers. Popular online video games, including Blizzard Entertainment's "World of Warcraft" and Yedang Online's "Priston Tale 2," each of which boasts hundreds of thousands of users, have suffered similar attacks. Worryingly, the attacks are becoming better organized and more dangerous. In the past, many hackers were so naive as to show off their abilities or to stage public "cyber-demonstrations." Now an increasing number of criminal hackers are seeking to obtain web users' personal information and profit from it. More and more hackers are targeting Korean Internet sites from bases in China, or going through poorly protected China from bases in third countries. According to a study by the Korea Information Security Agency, more than 50 percent of all malicious foreign Internet traffic into Korea comes from China. The personal information of Korean Internet users, such as residence registration numbers, are traded on China's black market and passed around on China's largest websites, including Baidu and Google China. Last year, the South Korean government formally asked Beijing to have Chinese websites remove the contraband information. So far China has done little to help, regarding the problem as the responsibility of Korean service providers. Indeed, lax security at Korean web companies is one reason information leaks are so frequent. Compared with their foreign counterparts, Korean websites demand too much information from their users. And when leaks occur, the companies are often slow to act or evasive, denying that damage has been done. After it discovered that its server had been hacked in early February, Auction kept the news to itself for almost a full day, only reporting it to police after the hacker attempted to make a deal. The prevailing trend in the U.S. is toward making it mandatory for service providers to inform their subscribers of personal information leaks. Since California took the initiative in 2003, 19 states, including New York, have either passed laws or introduced bills to this effect. Such measures are intended to prevent web companies from using legal loopholes to avoid responsibility for leaks. An official with Broadcasting and Communications Commission said it is considering ways to pass a similar law in Korea. Meanwhile the commission is planning a publicity campaign with 300 Web service providers for next month to encourage Internet users to change their online passwords. -==- Let identityLoveSock take your personal information into their wanting hands. http://www.identity-love-sock.com/ Because victims have money too.
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