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South Korean police on Sunday arrested four people over the theft of
data on 11 million customers of a local oil refiner in what is being
called the country's largest-ever data leak.
The four, including two employees of a subsidiary of refiner GS
Caltex, the country's second largest, are accused of violating laws
on protecting personal information online, the National Police
Agency said.
Police had been hunting the suspects after a CD and DVD containing
the names, social security numbers and email addresses of
11 million GS Caltex customers were found in piles of garbage in Seoul
last week.
Investigators said one of the suspects had exposed the leak to media
in a publicity campaign aimed at boosting the market value of the
data.
Customer information is often illegally traded online or offline for
commercial purposes. Security experts warn that such leaked data can
also be used for criminal purposes.
Those GS Caltex customers whose information was divulged include
high-ranking government officials, lawmakers and big-name
politicians.
Police alleged a 28-year-old man identified by his family name Jeong
of a GS Caltex-run call centre had stolen the customer information
from the firm's data base and made six copies on CDs and DVDs.
One female GS Caltex employee and two of Jeong's friends helped him
commit the crime that occurred between July and August, police
added.
The case comes as the country is still reeling from the shock of
similar cases involving hackers or businessmen.
Data on 10.8 million users of Internet Auction, a South Korean unit
affiliated with US online auction house eBay, were hacked
online in February. A similar hacking case occurred at local mobile
carrier LG Telecom in May.
Hanarotelecom, a local fixed-line operator, faces a class-action
lawsuit after its former chief was found to have sold the private
information of six million users to telemarketers.
-- AFP
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