South Korea to replace diplomats’ email addresses after data breach

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry is preparing to replace the email addresses of all diplomats following a major data breach at an affiliated training institution, officials familiar with the matter said.

The move comes after personal information belonging to diplomats was believed to have been exposed in a cyberattack targeting an online education system operated by the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), Caliber.Az reports, citing South Korean media.

The breach, which reportedly went undetected for around 10 months, was discovered in February after a government agency alerted the ministry. The compromised server is believed to have contained data on about 10,000 users, including diplomats and trainees.

Information potentially exposed in the incident includes names, user IDs, positions, email addresses and encrypted passwords, according to officials.

The ministry has expressed concern that the stolen data could be exploited for phishing attempts and other cybercrimes, potentially damaging the security of diplomatic communications and South Korea’s international engagements.

The affected online education system has been taken offline, while authorities investigate the scale of the breach and identify those responsible.

By Aghakazim Guliyev