The information system of Yoido Full Gospel Church has been compromised, leading to the leak of some personal information, including members' resident registration numbers, phone numbers, and addresses. The church plans to notify affected members and has already deleted malicious code and blocked external access.
On October 7, Yoido Full Gospel Church announced that after receiving a notification from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) regarding the breach, it analyzed seven suspected leaked documents with an external security firm. They confirmed that one document contained personal information related to member data change history.
The leaked data included names, birth dates, and records of personal information changes. It was identified that there were 2,629 changes to resident registration numbers, 3,964 changes to phone numbers, and 7,202 changes to addresses. The church explained that the resident registration numbers were collected and managed for issuing donation receipts for year-end tax settlements.
However, the church clarified that the donation-related documents from 1993 to 2019, which raised suspicions of leaks, do not contain personal information. These documents consist of donation slip numbers, amounts, and details, without names, resident registration numbers, phone numbers, or addresses. They also stated that no personal information was found in the other six suspected leaked documents, which included payroll data and records of member transfers, appointments, and baptisms.
After confirming KISA's notification about the breach at 3 p.m. on October 6, the church began analyzing server and firewall logs. By 6:30 p.m. the same day, they detected and deleted the suspected malicious code. Following an overnight analysis, they confirmed one instance of personal information leakage around midnight. Starting at 1 a.m. on October 7, they implemented additional measures, including blocking external access and changing server passwords.
Currently, the church has completed the deletion of malicious files, blocked external access, and changed server and related account passwords. They are also in the process of changing all user passwords. Additionally, they plan to replace the existing firewall to maintain up-to-date security and conduct vulnerability assessments and further security enhancements with professional security firms.
Pastor Lee Yong-hoon stated, "We take this matter very seriously. We will actively cooperate with the investigation and verification procedures of the relevant authorities, and we will take all necessary measures to strengthen our information protection system to ensure that such incidents do not occur again and to better protect the valuable personal information of our members."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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