Week 28, 2025 security incident report
Hacking and data breach incidents newly reported 2025.07.07 ~ 07.13
Between 7 and 13 July, five new incidents were confirmed in South Korea, with phishing scams impersonating flight and hotel bookings during the holiday season, which caused financial losses of several million won, standing out. Exposures of sensitive data also continued, including a Goryeong County official's leak of a petitioner's personal data and the full leak of Yoon Suk Yeol's arrest warrant, which contained resident registration numbers. A case in which people were hacked after clicking on supposed anti-hacking guidance and the hacking of MAMAMOO's Solar were also confirmed, highlighting damage from impersonation notices and account compromises. Overseas, the hacking of Elmo's official X account to spread hateful posts attracted attention, and large-scale data exposures in recruitment and job seeking were prominent, including 64 million application records from McDonald's AI recruitment platform and data on more than 5 million LiveCareer jobseekers.
By type
- Hacking & intrusion19
- Data breach17
- Ransomware3
- Phishing & smishing2
- Malware1
Key incidents in South Korea
Holiday-season phishing posing as flight and hotel bookings causes financial losses
Impact: Financial losses of several million won
Phishing scams impersonating flight and hotel bookings surged during the holiday season. Fake confirmation emails led to financial losses of several million won.
Read on 테크월드 ↗Goryeong County official given only a caution for leaking complainant's personal data
Impact: Complainant's personal information
A Goryeong County official leaked a complainant's personal information. The official received only a caution, sparking criticism that the county was protecting its own.
Read on 일요신문 ↗Yoon Suk Yeol arrest warrant leaked with resident registration number
Impact: Full arrest warrant including resident registration number
The full arrest warrant for Yoon Suk Yeol, including his resident registration number, was leaked. The special counsel characterised the leak as obstruction of the investigation.
Read on 뉴스버스 ↗User hacked after clicking anti-hacking prompt
A notice telling users to click to prevent hacking lured users into clicking. After clicking as instructed, the user actually suffered a hack.
Read on 한국경제 ↗MAMAMOO's Solar appeals for return after hacking
Solar, a member of MAMAMOO, fell victim to hacking. Solar spoke out about the harm and asked for what had been taken to be returned.
Read on 머니투데이 ↗
Key incidents in other countries
Elmo's X account hacked to spread antisemitic and racist posts
Impact: Antisemitic and racist posts published on Elmo's official X account
The X account of Sesame Street character Elmo was hacked and used to post antisemitic and racist messages. Political posts targeting Trump and Netanyahu were also published. Sesame Workshop said an unknown hacker had made the posts and that it had regained control of the account and secured it.
Related reports: 42 · last report →McDonald's AI recruitment platform exposes 64 million job application records
64mImpact: 64 million job application records
McDonald's AI recruitment chatbot platform McHire exposed 64 million job application records. An admin password set to 123456 and flaws in the chatbot were identified as the cause of the exposure, and applicants in Australia were among those affected.
Related reports: 12 · last report →Up to 800,000 Paddy Power and Betfair customers hit by data breach
800kImpact: Personal information of up to 800,000 customers
Personal information of Paddy Power and Betfair customers was leaked, with the number of people affected put at up to 800,000. Following the breach, users were warned about email-related risks.
Related reports: 5 · last report →LiveCareer exposes data of more than 5 million jobseekers
5mImpact: Data and CVs of more than 5 million jobseekers
Data of more than 5 million jobseekers was accidentally exposed on job platform LiveCareer. The exposed material included CVs.
Related reports: 2 · last report →Chinese hackers suspected in Washington DC law firm hack
In July 2025, it emerged that a prominent law firm in Washington DC had been hacked. Allegations were raised that Chinese hackers were involved in the breach.
Related reports: 2 · last report →