GOPAX Operator Among Firms Hit as South Korea Financial-Sector Hack Spreads to Crypto Industry

Recent hacking attacks targeting South Korea’s financial sector have also hit the cryptocurrency industry, authorities said.

The Financial Services Commission said on October 14 that five more companies were newly confirmed to have suffered hacking damage at a second emergency response meeting on recent financial-sector breaches, chaired by Secretary General Shin Jin-chang. The newly identified victims were DB Savings Bank, KDB Capital, Brightfix, Streami and Prabang. That brought the total number of affected financial firms to 16 from 11.

Authorities are still conducting additional investigations. The FSC said 16 firms across the banking, savings bank, mutual finance and virtual-asset sectors were found to have been affected around the time of the recent Shinhan Bank breach. The total could rise further as financial companies continue checking for intrusions based on shared IP addresses and other indicators, it added.

Streami operates GOPAX, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. Prabang also operates a cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea. This is the first time damage tied to the recent hacking attacks on the financial sector has been confirmed in the crypto industry.

Authorities have so far confirmed about 100,000 cases of information leaks at financial firms. No leaked data involving account or card numbers that could create a direct risk of fraudulent payments has been identified, an FSC official said. Financial companies that reported incidents have moved quickly to block attack IP addresses, apply security patches and suspend related services to prevent additional breaches, the official added.