Hanatour Data Breach (2017)

Last month, Hanatour, South Korea’s largest travel agency suffered a major security breach, as hackers stole the personal information of over one million users. According to local news publications, hackers have demanded that Hanatour pay a one-time ransom payment in Bitcoin but the amount remains undisclosed. According to South Korean travel associations and independent research firms, Hanatour has consistently been considered South Korea’s largest and most reputable travel agency when measured on revenue, client base and reviews. Since 2007, the company has aggressively moved into new international markets, establishing offices in popular tourist destinations including Japan and China. According to recent reports, more than one million users have been affected. The company has notified its clients and the public that employee’s computers were targeted by hackers using sophisticated phishing attacks and malware, which allowed an unknown group of hackers to access the company’s servers where names, mobile phone numbers, social security numbers, home addresses, email addresses, and the telephone numbers of its clients were held. Hanatour further disclosed that the group responsible have demanded large sums of payments in Bitcoin in return for not leaking the data.