Data stolen from 35 million South Korean social networking users

Hackers have broken into the popular South Korean websites Nate and Cyworld earlier this week, and stole information about 35 million social networking users.

Names, email addresses, phone numbers and resident registration numbers of users are said to have been compromised.

The BBC reports that the Korean Communications Commission has pointed the finger of blame at Chinese hackers, after it was discovered that the IP addresses of intruding computers were based in the country.

SK Communications, which owns both websites, have published an apology in the form of a website pop-up which offers more information (sorry, it’s in Korean), including links for how users can change their passwords.

For those who have been brought up with social networks like…

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.