South Korea to change e-mail addresses of diplomats after cyberattack
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The cyberattack leaked personal data of up to 10,000 Korea National Diplomatic Academy users.
PHOTO: ST FILE
- South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to change diplomats' email addresses after a cyber attack leaked personal data of up to 10,000 Korea National Diplomatic Academy users.
- The cyber attack lasted 10 months and exposed names, user IDs, and email addresses, raising concerns about targeted phishing and trust in official communications.
- Officials are advised to be cautious with emails from unknown senders and use unique, regularly changed passwords to enhance security, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il.
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SEOUL – South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is set to change the e-mail addresses of its diplomats after a cyberattack on the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) exposed some of the personal information of all of its diplomats.
According to industry sources on July 23, the ministry is reviewing the timing, scope and implementation details of replacing its diplomats’ e-mail addresses following the major security breach.
Carried out over 10 months between April 2025 and February 2026, the cyberattack is estimated to have leaked up to 10,000 records – names, user IDs and e-mail addresses – of KNDA users, including all South Korean diplomats.
Although the leaked e-mail addresses do not directly compromise the accounts, officials are particularly concerned they could be used in targeted phishing attacks.
Such attacks could also undermine trust in official communications with foreign counterparts.
Earlier in the day, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il said the ministry had “advised officials to exercise caution when receiving e-mails from unverified senders. We are also urging officials not to use the same passwords across multiple websites, recommending unique passwords for each account and regular password changes to reduce security risks”. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
