 |
Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] South Korean police have booked three individuals in connection with allegations that LG Uplus intentionally destroyed a server linked to a personal data breach incident.
Speaking at a press briefing on April 20, Park Jeong-bo, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said that three suspects have been formally charged without detention and that investigators are currently analyzing seized materials.
Last month, the agency’s anti-corruption unit conducted a search and seizure at LG Uplus’s integrated control center located at its Magok headquarters in western Seoul, securing server data, system records, and materials related to operating system reinstallation.
The case stems from a report received on July 18 last year regarding a potential leak of information from LG Uplus’s Account Permission Management Platform (APPM), involving approximately 40,000 accounts. The following day, the Ministry of Science and ICT notified the company and instructed it to conduct an internal review.
LG Uplus later reported in August that no signs of a breach were found. However, it was subsequently discovered that one of the two APPM servers had been physically destroyed roughly ten days after the initial notification of the suspected hacking incident.
A joint public-private investigation team, including the Korea Internet & Security Agency, halted further inquiry due to the server being reinstalled or discarded and referred the case to police.
Investigators are now examining whether LG Uplus deleted or reset existing log records during the server reinstallation process.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
