"Could My Resident Registration Number Be Compromised Too?"... Government 24 Hacking Incident Leaves Scope of Damage Unclear for a Month

Targeting Security Vulnerabilities in the Children's Portal, Server Attacked
36 Resident Registration Numbers, 3 Phone Numbers, and 55 IDs Leaked

It has been revealed that "Government 24," South Korea's primary administrative service portal, was subjected to a hacking attack that resulted in the leakage of personal information such as resident registration numbers and account credentials. Over a month has passed since the incident occurred, but the exact extent of the damage has yet to be determined, heightening public anxiety.

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From Resident Registration Numbers to Passwords: The Damage Scope Remains Unclear for a Month

According to data submitted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to Assemblyman Jeong Chun-saeng of the Innovation Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, an external attack targeting a security vulnerability in the Children's Portal within Government 24 occurred at approximately 5:29 p.m. on August 17.

Since the personal information leak incident that occurred on the 17th of last month, the Government24 Children's Portal screen has been displaying a 'System Maintenance' popup. Screenshot of Government24

During the attack, it was determined that 11 memory dump files stored on Government 24 servers, among other data, were leaked externally. Memory dump files are records of the contents stored in system memory at a specific point in time, saved as files.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported the personal information leak to the Personal Information Protection Commission on the day after the incident. The report submitted at that time stated that 36 resident registration numbers, 3 phone numbers, and 55 Government 24 IDs and passwords were presumed to have been leaked.

However, more than a month after the incident, the precise scale of the personal information leak has yet to be ascertained. Instead of posting a specific notification or apology about the leak, only a "System Maintenance (Service Suspension)" notice has been displayed on the Government 24 Children's Portal, which was identified as the hacking route. It is also difficult to find any announcements regarding the personal information leak in the Government 24 official notices.

Repeated Personal Data Incidents: This Time, the First 'Hacking Leak'

Government 24 has previously faced personal information leak incidents in 2024 and last year, resulting in administrative penalties such as fines and surcharges. However, this is the first time that personal information from Government 24 has been leaked due to an external hacking attack.

1365 Volunteer Portal screen. Screenshot of the 1365 Volunteer Homepage

The "1365 Volunteer Portal" operated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety also experienced a personal information leak this year. The incident occurred on May 20, and the confirmed number of victims whose names, dates of birth, and mobile phone numbers were leaked amounted to 8,785—more than 11 times the 796 reported in the initial notification to the Personal Information Protection Commission.

In the past, security vulnerabilities at the 1365 Volunteer Portal were highlighted when it was revealed that some victims' personal information had been extracted by the "Doctor's Room," a Telegram group distributing sexually exploitative content. On September 21, about four months after the incident, the Personal Information Protection Commission requested the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to submit materials clarifying the circumstances surrounding the leak.

Assemblyman Jeong emphasized, "It is a significant issue that repeated personal information leak incidents have occurred on platforms like Government 24, where citizens’ most sensitive information is stored," stressing the need to strengthen information security, conduct prompt investigations of incidents, and provide appropriate relief measures for victims.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.