3 hrs ago
Nearly 40 Million Tving Accounts Compromised in Massive Breach
Tving is a South Korean service for watching online videos.
A hacker got into the company’s computer systems.
Investigators found that information from nearly 40 million accounts was affected.
Some people had more than one account, so this does not represent 40 million different people.
The exposed information could include names, birthdays, phone numbers and email addresses.
The hacker also accessed some technical materials, including source code.
Tving has added security measures, and investigators have not seen another attack so far.
Officials warned that the stolen information could be used for scams or other cybercrimes.
Government agencies will decide how serious the personal-data breach was and whether Tving should be fined.
A government-civilian investigation found that 39.54 million Tving accounts were compromised.
The breach also exposed 361 technical assets, including source code.
Exposed data included names, birth dates, phone numbers, email addresses and connecting information.
Investigators said a hacker used a stolen developer access key to enter Tving’s systems.
Tving reported the breach two days after detection and may face penalties for the delay.
- Who
- Tving users, Tving, an unidentified hacker, and South Korean government-civilian investigators.
- What
- A data breach compromised 39.54 million Tving accounts and 361 technical assets, including source code.
- Where
- Tving’s internal systems in South Korea.
- When
- The breach was detected on May 30 and reported on June 1; investigation results were announced after a three-month inquiry.
- Why
- An unidentified hacker used a stolen developer access key to infiltrate Tving’s systems.
Key facts
- Accounts compromised
- 39.54 million, including multiple accounts held by some users
- Technical assets compromised
- 361, including source code
- Active accounts
- 22.06 million
- Inactive accounts
- 17.37 million
- Potentially exposed data
- Names, dates of birth, mobile phone numbers, email addresses and connecting information
- Reporting delay
- Tving detected the incident on May 30 but reported it on June 1
- Second-quarter performance
- 140.7 billion won in sales and 6 billion won in operating profit








