Gmarket CEO: 'Unauthorized Payments Are Suspected Account Thefts, Unrelated to Hacking'

As consumer concerns over e-commerce security grew, Gmarket clarified that these incidents were not the result of hacking and quickly introduced proactive compensation measures. James Jang, CEO of Gmarket, stated in an internal message to employees on the 4th, "There have been cases of suspected account theft affecting our customers. This incident is unrelated to hacking, and there was no evidence of external intrusion.
" Regarding the cause of the incident, CEO Jang explained, "The method involved logging in and making payments using personal information illegally collected from outside sources. We believe this is a typical case of 'account theft,' exploiting the common practice of using the same credentials across multiple sites.
" He added, "Immediately after recognizing the incident on the 29th of last month, we blocked related IP addresses around 8 p. m.
and strengthened payment security policies by 11 p. m.
, preventing any further damage. " Earlier, Gmarket experienced unauthorized payment incidents affecting about 60 users.
The amount of damage per individual was reported to be less than 200,000 won. 7 million account records.
CEO Jang emphasized, "Given that this incident coincided with a suspected hacking event at another company, we considered it a serious matter and reported it to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Moving forward, we will further strengthen company-wide security awareness and lead the way in creating a safer environment for personal information management.
" The previous day, Gmarket decided to proactively compensate affected customers, including offering refunds, and encouraged them to report the incident to the police and other relevant authorities.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter