Hackers hit Epson in South Korea

Hackers struck anew in South Korea over the weekend, hitting the Korean branch of Japanese firm Epson and potentially exposing the data of some 350,000 users. The hack prompted Epson Korea, the Korean unit of Japan's Seiko Epson Corp., to advise users to change their passwords and IDs, the Korea Herald reported. Epson said it has so far not been able to trace or identify the hackers, the report said. Also falling prey to hackers last Saturday was Gabia, a local web domain management company. But Gabia said that while the hack may have affected online connections with its clients, personal information was not leaked. The Korea Herald report said there had been almost 6,000 hacking incidents reported to the state-run Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA) as of June 2011. KISA said companies need to step up efforts to maintain security systems and tighten control over security personnel. Last month, SK Communications said its two websites ― Cyworld.com and Nate.com ― were hacked. Up to 35 million Koreans use these sites and may have had their personal information exposed. Earlier this week, a local court ordered SK Communications to pay one of the victims 1 million won ($925) in compensation. Internet personal ID The Korea Herald report said the government is encouraging the use of an Internet Personal Identification Number to replace the common practice of using resident registration numbers. It said the resident registration numbers can be used to forge fake identities if they fall into the wrong hands. — TJD, GMA News