Coupang founder to be summoned over data breach The Korea Times

pConsumers hold a press conference outside Coupangs headquarters in Seoul Tuesday to protest the companys recent data breach Yonhap ppThe National Assemblys Science ICT Broadcasting and Communications Committee will summon Coupang founder and Chairman Kim Bomsuk also known as Bom Kim as the key witness at a Dec 17 hearing into his companys massive personal data breach ppThe committee approved the hearing during a meeting on Monday determining that Coupangs responses in the initial emergency questioning on Dec 2 were insufficientppWe decided to adopt the proposal for a hearing to address unresolved suspicions that remain despite previous questioning said Rep Choi Minhee who chairs the committeeppA total of nine witnesses and five expert witnesses will be summoned for the hearing Six Coupang executives are on the list including Kim Coupang Corp CEO Park Daejun former CEO Kang Hanseung who is now head of the companys North American operations and Chief Information Security Officer Brett MatthesppGovernment officials have also been called to testify including Science Minister Bae Kyunghoon and Korea Internet Security Agency KISA President Lee Sangjoong Expert witnesses include the head of the Personal Information Protection Commission along with academic and industry cybersecurity expertsppThe committee has demanded that Coupang and related authorities submit 422 documents by Friday During the hearing it plans to verify the facts surrounding the breach assess Coupangs response and examine any potential legal or procedural violations ppCoupang founder Bom Kim poses in front of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City March 11 2021 the day the company was listed APYonhap ppThe ecommerce giants massive data breach which compromised the personal information of 337 million users surfaced on Nov 29 The leaked information included the names email addresses phone numbers delivery information and purchase histories of nearly the entire customer base It was allegedly taken by a former employee who still had access to the companys internal systemsppDuring the emergency questioning last week the committee strongly rebuked Coupangs crisis response and communication practices noting that it referred to the incident as a data exposure in the companys notice rather than a breach which undermined the gravity of the situation ppCoupang later corrected its terminology and issued an updated customer notice after facing backlash from the public ppThe company also faced a search and seizure operation as authorities intensified their investigation The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said its cyber investigation unit visited Coupangs headquarters in Songpa District on Monday morning to seize digital evidence ppThe police had previously been investigating server log records and other materials voluntarily submitted by Coupang With the evidence obtained from the search and seizure investigators plan to analyze the confiscated hard drives and internal documents to determine whether any illegalities or negligence occurred in Coupangs handling of customer informationppCoupang has seen a noticeable drop in users since the breach According to industry tracker IGAWorks daily active users fell to 1594 million on Saturday down more than 2 million from the previous days alltime high of 1799 million when many users logged in to check their accounts change passwords or explore how to delete their profilesp