Service disruption in Samsung Pay caused by firewall error at data center
A customer is unable to use Samsung Pay due to a service disruption at a convenience store in Seoul, June 2. Yonhap
The recent service disruption in Samsung Pay, a mobile payment system operated by Samsung Electronics, was caused by a firewall error at a data center in Suwon, just south of Seoul, government officials said Tuesday.
On June 2, Samsung Pay experienced service errors lasting over three hours beginning at around 7 a.m., affecting card payments and new card registration.
At the time, Samsung Electronics restored the service by switching operations from its main data center operated by Samsung SDS in Suwon to a backup center run by KT in Seoul.
The company initially said the failure appeared to stem from network line issues with card companies.
However, in interim findings submitted to Rep. Kim Jang-kyom of the main opposition People Power Party, the Ministry of Science and ICT said the internal firewall on the dedicated network connecting to card companies at the Suwon data center has been identified as the point of failure.
The ministry noted that a further investigation is needed to pinpoint the detailed cause, including potential issues in the network equipment.
It added that there was no evidence of a cyberattack, citing the results of regular and follow-up security inspections conducted by Samsung SDS.