Another Personal Information Leak at 'Everyone's Startup' Just Five Months Later... Participants Demand Disclosure of Incident Details and Compensation Measures

[Financial News] Another personal information leak occurred in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Everyone's Startup program just five months later.
After the first incident in June, the government promised to prevent a recurrence, but information belonging to 818 participants was leaked in the second project.
Participants have come forward demanding disclosure of how the incident occurred and what compensation measures are planned.
According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 14th, one of the 50 companies supplying artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for the second project was hacked, resulting in a leak of personal information.
The people affected by the leak included 818 project participants. The leaked information comprised names, phone numbers and email addresses. 
A participant who said they had advanced to Round 1 of the second project posted on the Everyone's Startup message board the previous afternoon, arguing that the government should disclose whether it had adequately assessed the risk of personal information leaks when designing the program and verified the security capabilities of outside participating organizations.
The participant also asked the government to disclose each organization's security responsibilities and inspection and oversight duties, as well as the security standards applied to organizations and AI solution providers participating in the second project, and to verify whether those responsible had properly fulfilled their duties.
The participant demanded evidence showing how the measures to prevent a recurrence announced after the first incident had been communicated to and implemented by the organizations and companies involved in the second project.
The participant added that it should be confirmed what security measures had been completed before the program resumed. They urged the government to explain the procedures victims should follow if insurance had been taken out or funds for compensation secured in preparation for a leak, and to disclose the record of past relief and compensation efforts as well as future plans.
Posts asking how the leak occurred and what procedures were available for redress appeared one after another on the program's message board and related online communities.
Some participants said they had made inquiries after seeing media reports because they could not find an incident notice on the Everyone's Startup website or the supplier company's website.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups issued a press briefing document that day, saying, "The system involved in this data leak is an AI solution operated independently by a private company," and, "When participants choose an AI solution provider, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups subsidizes the participants' fees for using that service."

[email protected] Lee Jeong-hwa Reporter