Yonsei University's campus in Seodaemun District, western SeoulYONSEI UNIVERSITY
Personal information belonging to around 10,000 students and graduates at Yonsei University was leaked following a cyberattack on the university's online portal system.
"The personal information of some university members was confirmed to have been leaked following unauthorized external access to the Yonsei Portal Service," the university's Office of Information and Communications said in a notice sent to affected individuals on Thursday.
The leaked information included student identification numbers, mobile phone numbers, email addresses and certain system management data, including login identification keys and the number of failed password attempts associated with the affected accounts. Resident registration numbers were not compromised.
The cyberattack targeting Yonsei University reportedly began at around 7:41 p.m. on Tuesday.
"An attack on the university's system was detected at the time, and we immediately blocked the IP [internet provider] address," a university representative told the JoongAng Ilbo. "While we were analyzing the cause at around 10 a.m. the following day, a second hacking attempt was made from a different IP address, which we also blocked."
Yonsei University reported the incident to the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) on Wednesday afternoon.
Under the Personal Information Protection Act, organizations that experience a personal data breach are required to report the incident within 72 hours of becoming aware of it and notify affected individuals.
A student walks by Yonsei University's main gate in Seodaemun District, western Seoul.NEWS1
"We plan to gather additional evidence related to the hacking attacks and refer the case to investigative authorities," the university representative said.
The university also plans to conduct a comprehensive security review of its systems while strengthening monitoring and security measures. It urged students and graduates to be cautious of text messages, phone calls and emails claiming to be from the university and to avoid clicking links from unknown sources or entering personal information on suspicious websites.
A notice uploaded to the Sogang University website provides details about the cyberattack on Aug. 14 that exposed approximately 180,000 records containing personal information belonging to students, graduates and university staff.SCREEN CAPTURE
Affected individuals can check which types of their personal information were compromised through a notice on Yonsei University's official website starting at 1 p.m. Thursday.
The incident follows a series of cyberattacks targeting universities.
In August, Sogang University suffered an external cyberattack that exposed approximately 180,000 records containing personal information belonging to students, graduates and university staff.
The problem extends beyond recent incidents, with 2.8 million people affected by personal data breaches at universities between 2022 and July this year, according to data submitted by the Ministry of Education to People Power Party Rep. Kim Meen-geon.
Experts have called for more cybersecurity personnel and greater funding as hacking attacks become increasingly sophisticated, including through the use of AI.
"Just as the government develops information security measures for small- and medium-sized businesses, it should establish support measures to strengthen cybersecurity at universities," said Kim Seung-joo, a professor at Korea University's School of Cybersecurity. "Support appears particularly necessary for private universities that lack sufficient funding for cybersecurity."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
