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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, Oct. 20 — South Korean telecom operator LG Uplus Corp. is facing allegations that it reinstalled the operating system of a potentially hacked server, effectively erasing key forensic data before submitting a security report to the government.
According to lawmaker Choi Min-hee of the Democratic Party, who chairs the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) notified LG Uplus on July 19 of a report claiming that “information from its account-authorization management system and more than 40,000 account credentials had been leaked.” The company was ordered to conduct an internal inspection and report back by August 11.
However, documents obtained by Choi’s office show that on August 12 — one day before submitting its report — LG Uplus reinstalled the operating system on the server in question, a move that overwrites existing data and hinders forensic investigation. The company’s official report, submitted on August 13, stated that there were “no signs of intrusion.”
Critics argue this raises suspicion that LG Uplus may have intentionally destroyed potential evidence.
In response, an LG Uplus spokesperson said, “We imaged each server before and after the update and submitted those copies to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). We are cooperating fully with the ongoing investigations by the MSIT and KISA to ensure transparency.”
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
