Police Launch Preliminary Inquiry into Information Leak in "Startups for All" Project, to Trace How the Data Was Leaked

[Financial News] Police have launched a preliminary investigation into the personal data leak involving the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Startups for All project.
The National Office of Investigation of the National Police Agency said in a press notice on the 23rd that it had ordered a preliminary inquiry on the same day after a data leak involving the government's Startups for All project was posted on the KISED website on the 18th.
The preliminary inquiry will be handled by the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency's Cyber Investigation Unit. Police also received a request for an investigation from KISED the previous day.
A police official said, "We will quickly investigate by tracing how the leak occurred."
Earlier, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said that the personal information of 5,000 successful applicants to the Startups for All project, which was run to promote entrepreneurship, had been leaked. An investigation found that the incident was not caused by an external attack, but by a hacking incident involving a company that participated as a vendor supporting project applicants. The leaked items identified so far include private email addresses, idea summaries and evaluation comments.
The previous day, Han Seong-sook, the minister of SMEs and Startups and a nominee for prime minister, said as she arrived at the office of the confirmation hearing preparation team at the Financial Supervisory Service training center in Tongui-dong, Seoul, "We failed to protect the trust of those who believed in the government and took on the challenge of starting a business," adding, "As the minister in charge, I deeply feel the heavy responsibility and offer my sincere apologies."
welcome@fnnews.com Jang Yu-ha Reporter