KT hit with $37.5m privacy fine after femtocell breach in South Korea
( July 30, 2026, 06:01 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: KT has been fined roughly 54 billion won ($37.5 million) by South Korea’s privacy regulator over security failures that allowed hackers to connect an unauthorized femtocell to its mobile network, exposing phone numbers and device identifiers belonging to 16,647 users. The Personal Information Protection Commission said Thursday the attackers intercepted SMS and automated voice-call authentication used for mobile payments, causing about 240 million won in unauthorized charges affecting 368 people. KT was ordered to strengthen controls across its telecommunications equipment, expand the role of its privacy officer and seek ISMS-P certification for the affected network systems. The regulator also decided to file a criminal complaint against KT for allegedly concealing a separate malware incident and obstructing its investigation. Statement is attached (in Korean)....
Prepare for tomorrow’s regulatory change, today
MLex identifies risk to business wherever it emerges, with specialist reporters across the globe providing exclusive news and deep-dive analysis on the proposals, probes, enforcement actions and rulings that matter to your organization and clients, now and in the longer term.
Know what others in the room don’t, with features including:
- Daily newsletters for Antitrust, M&A, Trade, Data Privacy & Security, Technology, AI and more
- Custom alerts on specific filters including geographies, industries, topics and companies to suit your practice needs
- Predictive analysis from expert journalists across North America, the UK and Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific
- Curated case files bringing together news, analysis and source documents in a single timeline
Experience MLex today with a 14-day free trial.