Yoido Full Gospel Church said an internal review found names, birth dates and other details of 850,000 members may have been exposed. A security firm also reported congregant data linked to Sarang Church.
Yoido Full Gospel Church said on Wednesday that an internal review found names, dates of birth and other personal details of 850,000 members may have been leaked. The Korea Herald said the church, in Yeouido, is billed as the world's largest Protestant church by registered membership.
The announcement followed an SBS report the previous day on suspected breaches at Yoido and at Sarang Church in Seocho-gu. Cybersecurity firm Oasis Security said it found what appeared to be stolen data from both churches on an external server, along with logs suggesting the alleged attackers may have used artificial intelligence, the Herald reported.
The Herald said six of seven datasets examined contained no personal information, covering parish moves, appointments and baptisms. A seventh log of changes to members' details contained names, birth dates and update histories for 850,000 people.
Chosun Biz, citing Oasis Security, reported larger volumes on an overseas server that the firm linked to Yoido, including about 330,000 offering records, about 960,000 congregant profiles updated over two years, about 68,000 electronic approval documents and 14,706 messenger logs, totaling about 47.3 gigabytes. It said data linked to Sarang included information on 89,000 congregants and 286 staff records. The two outlets do not use the same counts.
Neither report named an arrested suspect or a confirmed intrusion method beyond the firm's analysis of an attacker server. The church said it was reviewing the exposure. This is separate from the bank hacks President Lee discussed on Tuesday.
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- Yoido Full Gospel Church said personal details of 850,000 members may have been leaked.