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SEOUL : 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 - working at 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/ir
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