2.76 mil. pieces of customers' info at Hollys leaked in cyberattack
Passersby walk in front of a Hollys. Yonhap
Customer information held by local coffee chain Hollys has reportedly been leaked via hacking of its memberships program, the franchise said Monday, the latest in a string of cyberattacks targeting local companies.
A total of 2.76 million pieces of personal information, including the customers' dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses and emails, was stolen by the hackers sometime between Sept. 3 and Oct. 7, when the company detected unauthorized access to its system, according to a notice posted on the company's website.
"We understand that the leaked data consists of temporary data files provided for a past membership service overhaul, not the data from the currently active customer database," the notice read, adding the company is still investigating the exact scope of the incident.
"We sincerely apologize for causing customer concern from this incident. We will make our utmost efforts to protect customer data and minimize damage from the breach," it added.
The cybersecurity violation at Hollys follows back-to-back leaks of customer data at local financial firms early this month. Around 100,000 cases of leaked personal information are presumed to have taken place at 16 financial institutions in a recent series of hacking attacks as of Friday, according to financial regulators.
Hollys currently has around 530 outlets across the country and is owned by KG Group, a local conglomerate whose business ranges from steelmaking to car manufacturing and logistics services.