SK Telecom has confirmed a potential data breach involving up to 9.7GB of SIM-related information, raising serious concerns about user privacy and cybersecurity.
According to materials submitted to Rep. Choi Min-hee, chair of the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, the company’s security monitoring center first detected abnormal data traffic on April 18. The breach was later confirmed to involve key SIM card information, including:
- Mobile phone numbers
- SIM authentication keys
- International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)
- International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)
When converted into document format, the amount of leaked data equals roughly 2.7 million pages — the equivalent of 9,000 books, each 300 pages long.
SK Telecom revealed that the suspicious 9.7GB transfer was detected at 6:09 PM, and malicious code was discovered in a billing analysis system by 11:20 PM that evening. The following night, additional signs of data leakage were found in the Home Subscriber Server (HSS).
Rep. Choi urged SK Telecom to take immediate remedial actions, such as securing more SIM cards for user replacement, offering delivery options, and waiving penalties for users wishing to switch carriers.
Adding to the growing concerns, the recent SK Telecom service outage in Busan on April 25, which affected mobile voice calls and internet connections, has sparked fears that the breach could be linked to broader vulnerabilities in the company’s infrastructure. Authorities are also investigating a surge in phone fraud cases reported in Busan following the outage, suspecting that personal information obtained through the breach might have been exploited. Although SK Telecom stated that the Busan incident was caused by a network equipment error unrelated to the cyberattack, public distrust has been mounting.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly plans to grill SK Telecom over the incident in a parliamentary hearing on April 30.
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