Bithumb Reports Personal-Information Leak After Internal Mobile System Hack

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb reported a hack of its in-house mobile system and a leak of personal information, according to Reuters, citing Yonhap. The exchange was investigating whether member data was included.

The incident was one of three breaches reported Wednesday by South Korean financial firms, alongside Daishin Securities and Mirae Asset Global Investments.

Bithumb's full exposure remains unclear

Yonhap separately cited an industry source saying some Bithumb customers' personal information had leaked in a cyberattack by an outside party. Neither report provided a Bithumb-specific count of affected customers.

The reports did not establish that cryptocurrency funds had been stolen or that trading functions were compromised. The scope of the incident remained under investigation.

Daishin identifies 38,490 affected customers

Daishin told Yonhap that personal information belonging to 38,490 customers had been hacked. Names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers were among the information found to have leaked after the brokerage detected signs of unauthorised access the previous week.

The brokerage said it had notified customers and was investigating with authorities. It said it would compensate customers for damage caused by the breach in accordance with the law.

Mirae Asset Global Investments also confirmed a hacking incident, Reuters reported, while Yonhap said financial authorities had begun an inspection. Representatives of the three firms could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.

Earlier attacks provide context, not a confirmed link

South Korea's Financial Services Commission said earlier this month that attacks on 16 financial firms, including banks, had caused about 100,000 cases of data leaks. That earlier total is not a count for these three newly reported incidents.

Reuters also noted a separate government warning about PHP security flaws. The reports consulted did not establish those flaws as the cause of the Bithumb, Daishin or Mirae Asset breaches.

Sources

• Reuters: Three South Korean financial firms report data breaches
• Yonhap: South Korean financial firms confirm customer-data breaches