Coupang hacked by Russians, report says, company denies

Coupang was the target of a significant theft of customer data, according to a local media report.

The company said this is impossible and blamed third parties for any possible data loss.

According to Hankyoreh, information on 460,000 of the company’s customers was taken by the hacker group. The report said that the information was stolen by Russians and uploaded to the dark web.

“We found no traces of an external attack on the server and no pieces of customer information were leaked,” Coupang said.

Coupang said that the possibility exists in which a seller or multiple sellers from Coupang Marketplace, a cross-border e-commerce offering where sellers and consumers are able to buy and sell products directly, may have leaked their consumer information.

The responsibility for the leaked information falls upon the seller, Coupang attorney Kwon Chang-beom said.

“As the seller directly manages customer information through consent on providing their information to a third person, the seller is responsible for maintaining privacy if the data is leaked,” Kwon said, citing Article 17 of the Personal Information Protection Act.

“Coupang’s server and network are securely protected,” a Coupang spokesperson emphasized. “There was no cyber attack on the Coupang network and customer personal information.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]