31 Customer Records Leaked in Hanyang Securities Groupware Hack
Hanyang Securities has confirmed that 31 records, including customer and employee information, were leaked in a hacking incident. According to the company, abnormal access was detected in an external groupware solution it uses, and the firm became aware of the partial data leak on June 29. The leaked records comprise 15 customer records, 2 employee-related records, and 14 general personal information records.
The specific items varied by record, but included names, account numbers, contact details, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, and driver's license numbers; three records contained resident registration numbers. The company said these three records belonged to ordinary individuals who were neither customers nor employees, and came from documents such as real estate registry excerpts attached to the system for business purposes.
The groupware identified as the hacking route was Daou Office. It was also found that the breach disclosed by cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb around the same time, which affected 6,444 users, occurred through the same solution.
Meanwhile, security incidents that began in the banking sector are spreading to securities firms and asset managers in the financial investment industry. Daishin Securities detected abnormal access on June 17 to an account-opening server linked to an external investment advisory and discretionary investment firm, and disclosed on June 28 that a full investigation had revealed the leak of personal and credit information of 38,490 customers. Mirae Asset Management also confirmed unauthorized external access to some of its web systems, but said no general investor customer information was involved. These incidents show that back-office support systems, such as externally linked servers and groupware, can also serve as hacking channels—not just core trading systems.
According to the Financial Services Commission, as of June 14, security breaches had been confirmed at 16 institutions, including banks and savings banks, in the period surrounding the Shinhan Bank incident. Of 555 financial companies examined under a security checklist review, 130 reported some deficiencies. The authorities plan to push institutional improvements, including upgrading security monitoring systems, strengthening vulnerability assessments, and enhancing the accountability of CEOs.
Hanyang Securities blocked external access immediately upon detecting the incident, completed emergency security patches with the solution vendor, and finished reporting to relevant authorities last week. It is notifying affected customers individually. The company said, "We take this matter very seriously and sincerely apologize for the concern caused to our customers." It added that it would conduct more thorough reviews of its security management framework to prevent a recurrence.
