Seoul apologizes after 818 startup participants' data leak

SEOUL, November 15 (AJP) -South Korea's Ministry of SMEs and Startups apologized Saturday after 818 participants in its government-backed "Everyone's Startup" program had their personal information exposed in a data breach three days earlier. 

The Nov. 11 breach occurred at private AI service provider AmicusRex, exposing the names, phone numbers and email addresses of 20,028 users, including the 818 program participants. It marked the second data leak involving the startup initiative in five months, following a June incident affecting information linked to 5,000 participants. 

The ministry had initially stressed that the breach occurred in a privately operated system rather than its own platform. Following complaints demanding accountability and compensation, the ministry and the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development pledged stronger oversight of government systems and affiliated private services, along with further investigation and updates on measures to protect affected users.

TAGS : MinistryOfSMEsAndStartups, DataBreach, PersonalDataLeak, Cybersecurity, EveryonesStartup, StartupKorea, SouthKorea, DataProtection, GovernmentAccountability, AJPNow