The personal data of hundreds of thousands of people may have been exposed following suspected cyberattacks on two South Korean megachurches.
Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church and Sarang Church said they are investigating the attacks, which could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of congregants.
Cybersecurity company Oasis Security said it discovered attack records and account information on an overseas server containing data linked to the two churches.
According to the company, records of the suspected attacks included signs that artificial intelligence (AI) tools may have been used during the cyberattacks.
Oasis Security pointed to references to “sub-agents” and extensive attack reports that appeared to have been generated automatically.
On Wednesday, Yoido Full Gospel Church said an initial analysis revealed that data tied to 850,000 of its members may have been compromised.
The church said the data includes names and dates of birth along with a smaller number of records containing national identification numbers, addresses and telephone numbers.
Affected members are being notified by the church, which said it had also blocked external access and changed its server passwords.
Meanwhile, Sarang Church announced that it had formed an emergency task force following the suspected cyber incident.
The church said the breach was reported to authorities and that it is taking additional steps to determine what happened and prevent future incidents.
The suspected cyber intrusions come after recent hacks targeting South Korean commercial banks resulted in breaches of customers’ personal information.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that signs had emerged of AI being used in some recent hacking incidents involving banks.
