Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young (center) poses for a photo at the launch ceremony for the second class of Startups for All, held Oct. 20 at SVC in Seoul’s Mapo district. Yonhap NewsPersonal information belonging to 818 participants in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ second “Startup for All” project was exposed in an external hacking attack. The breach did not involve the ministry’s own systems but one of the 50 private artificial intelligence solution providers taking part in the project, exposing data on participants who had been using that company’s service.The ministry said on the 13th that the personal information of 818 Startup for All participants was leaked after Amicus Lex, an AI solution provider participating in the second round of the project, came under a hacking attack. Of the 20,028 people whose data was exposed in the broader attack on Amicus Lex, 818 were participants in the Startup for All project.Amicus Lex operates LawForm, an AI-based legal document drafting solution. The company implemented security measures including a block on overseas IP access immediately after the incident on the 11th. Following an investigation, it individually notified users whose data was confirmed as leaked on the 13th. According to the company, the exposed information included users’ names, phone numbers and email addresses.The ministry and the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development also informed affected participants of the circumstances of the incident and the categories of leaked data, and provided guidance on preventing secondary damage such as smishing. They further asked the other 49 AI solution providers to conduct self-inspections of their system security and personal data management practices.”We will work to prevent further damage,” a ministry official said. “We will continue to inspect and manage how all Startup for All AI solution providers are carrying out data protection measures, including control of access rights to personal information and whether data is destroyed once the retention period has passed.”
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