South Korean Megachurches Under Investigation for Suspected Cyberattacks Impacting Hundreds of Thousands

Personal data belonging to hundreds of thousands of individuals may have been compromised following suspected cyberattacks targeting two major South Korean megachurches.

Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church and Sarang Church announced they are investigating the breaches, which could potentially impact hundreds of thousands of congregants.

Cybersecurity firm Oasis Security discovered attack records and account information on an overseas server, with data linked to the two churches.

According to the company, the attack records indicated signs that artificial intelligence (AI) tools may have been utilized during the breaches.

Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul said data tied to approximately 850,000 members may have been compromised following a suspected cyberattack. (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters)

Oasis Security pointed to references to “sub-agents” and extensive attack reports that appeared to have been automatically generated.

On Wednesday, Yoido Full Gospel Church stated that an initial analysis revealed data tied to 850,000 members may have been compromised.

The church confirmed the compromised data includes names and dates of birth, alongside a smaller number of records containing national identification numbers, addresses, and telephone numbers.

The church is notifying affected members and has blocked external access while changing server passwords.

A cybersecurity company said it discovered attack records and account information linked to two South Korean megachurches on an overseas server. (Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Sarang Church announced it had formed an emergency task force following the suspected cyber incident.

The church reported the breach to authorities and is taking additional steps to determine what happened and prevent future incidents.

The suspected cyber intrusions follow recent hacks targeting South Korean commercial banks, which resulted in breaches of customers’ personal information.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that signs had emerged of AI being used in recent hacking incidents involving banks.

Yoido Full Gospel Church said potentially compromised information included members’ names and dates of birth, along with a smaller number of more sensitive records. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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