25,000,000 Customers’ Personal Information At Risk As Telecom Giant Discovers Malware for Mass SIM Swapping

A telecom giant is offering 25 million people free SIM cards after a massive hack left its customers’ sensitive personal information at risk. SK Telecom, the largest mobile provider in South Korea, acknowledged in a security notice that its customers’ personal data was exposed during a malware attack on the company. The company said in an announcement last month that “no cases of misuse of the information have been confirmed to date.” However, local publication Korea JoongAng Daily is reporting that some of SK Telecom’s customers have discovered money stolen from their bank accounts after the hacking incident. Police reportedly said that three days after the hack, a man had learned that his mobile plan with SK Telecom had suddenly been cancelled, and he was told by company employees at a service center that someone had signed up for a budget plan with another provider using his name. Soon thereafter, the man discovered that 50 million Korean won – about $34,000 – had been stolen from his bank account by unknown people in five separate transactions. He then called the police and asked his bank to freeze his account. Victims of the hack have formed an organization seeking collective action against SK Telecom, and are demanding a full investigation into the attack. The group, dubbed the “SKT USIM Hacking Joint Response,” told Korea JoongAng Daily that they believe the worse is still yet to come from the data breach, and that the telecom giant’s reaction to the mishap has been underwhelming. “The leaked information could lead to serious secondary damage across financial, social networking and other services that rely on mobile phone number authentication... SK Telecom’s response has been extremely insufficient. The scope and extent of the damage have not been clearly revealed, which has amplified user anxiety and confusion.” SK Telecom subsequently offered free SIM cards for all 25 million customers. However, the company now says it’s only able to get ahold of 6 million SIM cards for the entire month of May, meaning that it will take some time for it to follow through on its compensation plan. Says the company in an update, “[SK Telecom] currently has 1 million SIMs and plans to secure 5 million more SIMs by the end of May. However, since many customers are coming at once and waiting times are expected to be long, please check in advance through the online reservation application system.” Generated Image: Midjourney