South Korean Megachurches Investigate Suspected Cyberattacks Exposing Up to 850,000 Members
Data including names, birth dates, and potentially national identification numbers may have been compromised in attacks possibly involving AI.
Two megachurches in South Korea are investigating suspected cyberattacks that may have exposed the personal data of up to 850,000 members.
Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church reported that an initial analysis indicated data tied to approximately 850,000 congregants could have been compromised. The affected information includes names and dates of birth, with a smaller subset potentially containing national identification numbers, addresses, and phone numbers. The church stated it is notifying affected members, has blocked external access, and has updated server passwords.
Sarang Church also announced it has formed an emergency task force following a suspected cyber incident and has reported the breach to authorities. The church is taking additional measures to investigate the incident and prevent future occurrences.
Cybersecurity firm Oasis Security discovered attack records and account information on an overseas server linked to both churches. The company noted that references to "sub-agents" and automatically generated attack reports suggest that artificial intelligence (AI) tools may have been utilized in the cyberattacks.
These incidents follow recent data breaches affecting South Korean commercial banks, which also resulted in the compromise of customer information. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had previously commented on signs of AI being used in some of the recent bank-related hacking incidents.