The Korea Herald

소아쌤

Hacker steals financial info of Hyundai Capital clients

By 최희석

Published : April 11, 2011 - 10:54

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Financial services provider Hyundai Capital admitted Sunday that financial information including the credit ratings of some customers had been accessed by a hacker.

Those responsible for the incident are thought to have accessed the company’s auxiliary server since February and hacked data in small portions to avoid detection.

In addition, passwords and other vital information about loans taken out by 13,000 customers were also accessed by the hacker.

Hyundai Capital, the country’s top auto financing service provider, has about 1.8 million customers.

The company is said to be upgrading security levels against the possibility of further hacking attempts and taking preventative action against potential fraud and other illegal activities using the hacked data.

According to the company, which specializes in auto and home financing, internal investigations found that the information was accessed in contrast to earlier claims.
Hyundai Capital CEO Ted Chung (left) answers to questions raised by reporters on Sunday at the press conference on the hacking incident. Hyundai Capital, a financial unit of Hyundai Motor Group, said Sunday that financial information of some customers had been accessed by a hacker. (Yonhap News) Hyundai Capital CEO Ted Chung (left) answers to questions raised by reporters on Sunday at the press conference on the hacking incident. Hyundai Capital, a financial unit of Hyundai Motor Group, said Sunday that financial information of some customers had been accessed by a hacker. (Yonhap News)


“I apologize to the customers that the incident occurred, and will assume responsibility,” Hyundai Capital CEO Ted Chung said at a press conference on Sunday.

“Every effort is being made to prevent incidents. There does not appear to be any direct or financial damage to the customers.”

On Friday, when the hacking incident was made public, the company maintained that only information nonessential to making transactions such as names, addresses and mobile phone numbers of the customers had been hacked.

The company became aware of the hacking on Thursday after it received an email from the hacker demanding money for not posting data about 420,000 of its customers online. Hyundai Capital made a public announcement about the incident on Friday after the police failed to catch the hacker before the deadline of 7 p.m. on that day for making the payment. The police had raided a location at 5 p.m. on Friday, but failed to make an arrest and the culprits are now thought to be based overseas.

While the company takes actions to minimize damages including calling customers to change passwords and to be cautious of calls from supposed Hyundai Capital staff, the Financial Supervisory Service is set to begin its own investigations into the incident.

According to the FSS, it will dispatch investigators as early as Monday to look into the incident in order to determine the extent of the breach and the content of the stolen information.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)

<관련 한글 기사>

현대캐피탈 比·브라질 거쳐 해킹된 듯

경찰 "전문해커 솜씨…국외 공범 가능성"

현대캐피탈 고객 42만명의 개인정보가 필리핀과 브라질을 거쳐 유출된 흔적이 발견됐다.

현대캐피탈 고객 개인정보 해킹 사건을 수사 중인 서울지방경찰청 사이버범죄수사대는 회사 측이 제공한 자료를 분석한 결과 해커가 필리핀과 브라질에 있는  서버를 통해 현대캐피탈 서버에 침투, 고객정보를 수집한 흔적을 찾아냈다고 10일 밝혔다.

경찰 관계자는 "해킹 기술의 수준으로 볼 때 전문 해커가 한 명 이상 포함된 일당이 조직적으로 개입한 것으로 보인다"며 "국내뿐만 아니라 국외에도 공범이 있을 개연성이 높은 것으로 판단된다"고 말했다.

경찰은 외국의 경유 서버에 남은 흔적을 토대로 해커를 추적하고 있으나 범인이 수사에 혼선을 줄 생각으로 일부러 다른 경유지 정보를 남겼을 개연성도 배제하지 않고 있다.

현대캐피탈은 범인을 특정할 단서를 확보하고자 해커가 협박 이메일에 적은 계좌로 요구한 금액보다 적은 액수의 돈을 송금했으며 범인은 이 돈 중 일부를 이체한 것으로 알려졌다.

경찰은 해커가 돈을 일부 빼내자마자 해당 계좌를 지급정지 조치하고 계좌 추적에 나섰다.

또 범죄 유형이 비슷한 해킹 전력자를 상대로 수사하고 있으나 지금까지 뚜렷한 용의자를 찾지 못한 상태다.

현대캐피탈은 지난 7일 고객 42만명의 개인정보를 해킹했다는 일당으로부터 이를 외부에 유출하지 않는 대가로 수억원을 요구하는 협박 메일을 받았다며 경찰에 수사를 요청했다.

사건 초기에는 고객의 이름과 주민등록번호, 이메일 주소, 휴대전화 번호 등 일반 정보만 유출된 것으로 알려졌으나 추가 조사과정에서 대출상품인 프라임론패스 고객 1만3천여명의 비밀번호도 해킹된 것으로 파악됐다.

한편, 금융감독원은 11일 카드 담당 및 정보기술(IT) 전문가들로 구성된 대책반을 구성해 특별검사에 나설 방침이다.

(연합뉴스)