KT faces action in South Korea after a femtocell security breach impacts users
Authorities ruled KT failed in its duty to provide secure telecom services following a femtocell security collapse that allowed illegal network access and triggered significant unauthorised mobile transactions.
South Korea has blamed weak femtocell security at KT Corp for a major mobile payment breach that triggered thousands of unauthorised transactions.
Officials said the mobile operator used identical authentication certificates across femtocells and allowed them to stay valid for ten years, meaning any device that accessed the network once could do so repeatedly instead of being re-verified.
More than 22,000 users had identifiers exposed, and 368 people suffered unauthorised payments worth 243 million won.
Investigators also discovered that ninety-four KT servers were infected with over one hundred types of malware. Authorities concluded the company failed in its duty to deliver secure telecommunications services because its overall management of femtocell security was inadequate.
The government has now ordered KT to submit detailed prevention plans and will check compliance in June, while also urging operators to change authentication server addresses regularly and block illegal network access.
Officials said some hacking methods resembled a separate breach at SK Telecom, although there is no evidence that the same group carried out both attacks. KT said it accepts the findings and will soon set out compensation arrangements and further security upgrades instead of disputing the conclusions.
A separate case involving LG Uplus is being referred to police after investigators said affected servers were discarded, making a full technical review impossible.
The government warned that strong information security must become a survival priority as South Korea aims to position itself among the world’s leading AI nations.
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