Tving Data Breach Exposes 40 Million User Accounts

A joint government-civilian investigation found that nearly 40 million user accounts on the South Korean streaming platform Tving were compromised in a massive data breach. The breach occurred after an unidentified hacker stole a developer's access key to infiltrate internal systems, exposing 39.54 million accounts and 361 technical assets, including source code. The leaked data included 70 types of information, such as names, email addresses, and mobile numbers.

The Ministry of Science and ICT reported that Tving detected the breach on May 30 but failed to report the incident within the legally required 24-hour window, eventually reporting it on June 1. The Personal Information Protection Commission is currently determining potential penalties for the security failure and the reporting delay.

Tving CEO Choi Ju-hee apologized for the incident and pledged to quadruple the company's cybersecurity investment over the next five years. To compensate affected users, the company is offering platform credits, upgraded benefits, and hacking and phishing insurance.