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Subject:    [ISN] Venture Businessman Held for Hacking Info on 110,000 People
From:       InfoSec News <isn () C4I ! ORG>
Date:       2000-07-22 7:10:03
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Korea Times
July 21, 2000

A 24-year-old venture businessman has been detained for stealing
information on 110,000 online customers of an unidentified marketing
agency by hacking the company's servers.

The anti-cyber crime team of the National Police Agency said the
businessman, identified only as Choi, tried to sell the information to
Internet consulting firms.

According to police, Choi came to know the user ID of one of his
primary school alumni who had been working for the marketing agency on
May 25. Then, he logged on to the agency's servers with the user ID
and stole a roster featuring names, workplaces, duties, telephone
numbers and addresses of 11,000 customers.

Police said Choi sent an e-mail stating that a roster containing
information on hundreds of thousands of people will sell just for 5
million won' to 130 Web consulting firms. The suspect e-mailed samples
featuring information on 100 customers to those who showed interest in
his earlier e-mail,'' a member of the anti-cyber crime team said.

Police called the incident the country's worst-ever cyber crime with
respect to the number of victims.

The incident, in particular, caused broad-based ripples because the
suspect used the Window's Netbios,'' Microsoft Corp.'s
information-sharing software, o access the online marketing agency's
servers. Netbios enables anyone to log on to a company's computer
servers using the user ID of a person if the network is not protected
by a certain security system.

The leakage of the information could have created an environment
conducive to large-scale cyber crimes if the suspect had spread the
information through compact discs or online,'' a computer expert said.

Police said Choi had been allured into such an online crime after
suffering frustration from the fluctuation of the Internet business.

The suspect, who is now out of a Seoul-based university temporarily,
enjoyed a dotcom party'' only a few months ago, heading an e-commerce
business he founded after being discharged from military service. The
company, which usually handled discounted products targeting teens
online, has shown spectacular growth since its establishment, raising
its capital to 1.2 billion won in a matter of months.

Choi opened a spacious office in southern Seoul and had more than 40
employees.

But the burst of the bubble in March that came with the collapse of
technology companies on the Kosdaq market meant an end to his business
with investors disappearing all of a sudden. Choi ran out of funds and
most of his staff left the company.

Frustrated, Choi felt tempted to commit crime after he chanced upon
the proced re to log on to the marketing agency's computer system.
Police said Choi had admitted to all charges brought against him.

In the meantime, a university student was also arrested for stealing
and selling information on customers who subscribed to an online
brokerage company. The student, 23, identified only as Lee, is charged
with taking 660,000 won in cash and other prizes in exchange for
providing personal information to Internet companies.

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