SEOUL, September 24 (AJP) - The chief executive of KT Corp. acknowledged to lawmakers on Wednesday that the company had poorly managed its cellular network, which led to unauthorized mobile payment breaches and the theft of private data from hundreds of users.
During a parliamentary hearing, KT's CEO, Kim Young-shub, admitted to significant security vulnerabilities related to the company's network of micro base stations, known as femtocells.
"After the incident, we reviewed the management of femtocells and found numerous vulnerabilities and poor management," Kim said. He added that the company had since taken steps to prevent "illegal femtocells from connecting to the network."
Femtocells are small, low-power cellular transmitters typically used to boost signal strength inside homes or businesses. Kim stated that KT outsources the installation and management of these devices.
The breaches, which occurred around late August, involved unregistered femtocells connecting to the KT network. Hackers reportedly used these connections to access the private data of 362 users, with damages estimated at 240 million won, or about $173,000.
The stolen information may have included sensitive identifiers like international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) and international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) numbers, along with users' phone numbers.
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