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Coupang breach tied to stolen key, forged 'electronic pass,' South Korea finds

By Jenny Lee ( February 10, 2026, 06:39 GMT | Insight) -- Coupang’s user-account system was exploited for months after a former employee allegedly stole a signing key and used it to forge an “electronic pass” that could clear the company’s authentication gateway without a normal login, South Korea’s science ministry said as it released the results of a joint public-private probe on Tuesday. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the forged-pass workaround opened the door to sweeping access across core account pages, turning what first surfaced as a user complaint in November 2025 into a case the government now describes as a breakdown in key management and monitoring at one of the country’s most influential platforms.Coupang’s user-account system was exploited for months after a former employee allegedly stole a signing key and used it to forge an “electronic pass” that could clear the company’s authentication gateway without a normal login, South Korea’s science ministry said as it released the results of a joint public-private probe on Tuesday....

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