[Dataloss] Police: 9 Mil. Stolen Files Traded by Loan Ring

[security curmudgeon]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: InfoSec News <alerts at infosecnews.org>

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200807/200807280013.html

Digital Chosun Ilbo
July 28, 2008

Some 9 million files of Korean credit information stolen by a Chinese 
hacker ended up back in Korea and were illegally sold and distributed to 
Korean loan firms, police say.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Cyber Crime Investigation Division 
on Sunday said it had requested an arrest warrant for a 42-year-old loan 
go-between, identified by his surname Chun, who has fled to China. Chun is 
charged with W2.7 billion in illegal gains (US$1=W1,010) earned through 
buying information stolen by a Chinese hacker from some 2,000 Korean bank, 
loan firm, Internet shopping mall and university computer networks, and 
then using the data to mediate deals for Korean loan sharks.

In addition to Chun, police arrested without detention six others 
including "Shin" (42), who ran a loan mediating company using illegally 
obtained credit information. A warrant was also requested for "Im" (29), 
who has also fled.

Police say the suspects bought 9 million files of stolen data from a 
Chinese-based hacker for W15 million in May 2006. The data include 
personal resident registration numbers, phone numbers and credit info. 
Using the data, the suspects allegedly called people who had previously 
borrowed loans or were thought to be in need of money and introduced them 
to loan sharks in the non-institutional financial market.

[...]