Yonhap: Bithumb, Mirae Asset and Daishin Securities confirm they were hacked, FSS launches investigation
Yonhap reported on October 28 that South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, Mirae Asset Global Investments and Daishin Securities all confirmed data breach incidents, and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has launched related investigations and inspections.
Daishin Securities confirmed that the personal and credit information of 38,490 customers was leaked, including names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers, with some account numbers leaked in encrypted form. The company detected signs of unauthorized access on October 17 on a server related to non-face-to-face account opening, and after jointly reviewing about 60,000 signals disguised as normal service requests with the Financial Security Institute, confirmed the breach on October 26 and has begun notifying affected customers one by one.
Bithumb discovered on October 27 that its internal mobile office collaboration system had been subject to external unauthorized abnormal access, resulting in the leakage of personal information. It is currently analyzing the specific scope, including whether member information was involved, and has reported the matter to the Korea Internet & Security Agency and the Personal Information Protection Commission. Mirae Asset Global Investments also confirmed an external hacking intrusion, completed reporting to the Financial Commission, the FSS and the Personal Information Protection Commission, and said that no retail customer identification information was leaked and no financial losses were caused.
The head of the Financial Supervisory Service said at a related event that, as artificial intelligence is being used as a hacking tool, security vulnerabilities will be discovered more easily, multiple attacks occurring simultaneously will become normalized, and he urged boards of financial institutions to strengthen IT security capabilities and to treat protecting customers’ property, information and financial trust as a core responsibility. Previously, South Korea’s financial industry had already seen multiple similar incidents involving data leaks of about 100,000 records at banks and other institutions.
Original sources:
Title: (LEAD) South Korean financial firms confirm data breach of customer data Publisher: Yonhap News Agency Publication date: 2026-10-28 URL: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20261028002751320 Source nature: official media report Verification status: full report read this time, verification date 2026-10-28 Supporting content: confirmed data breaches at three institutions, Daishin Securities customer information leak involving 38,490 people, Bithumb partial customer information leak and authorities' inspection of Mirae Asset
Title: Three South Korean financial firms including Bithumb report data breaches, Yonhap says Publisher: Reuters Publication date: 2026-10-28 URL: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/three-south-korean-financial-firms-including-bithumb-report-data-breaches-yonhap-2026-10-28/ Source nature: international media report Verification status: full report read this time, verification date 2026-10-28 Supporting content: confirmed that Bithumb’s internal mobile system was hacked and personal information leaked, about 38,000 customer records leaked at Daishin Securities, and Mirae Asset confirmed a hacking incident and authorities' review
ABAB AI Insight
This incident took place against the backdrop of South Korea’s financial industry continuing to face cyberattacks. According to disclosures previously made by the Financial Commission, 16 financial institutions, including banks, had already confirmed about 100,000 data leaks. The scope of this attack has expanded from banks and insurers to securities firms, asset managers and cryptocurrency exchanges, showing that attack targets are extending from core trading systems to peripheral office and customer account-opening systems.
Daishin Securities’ leak involved a server for non-face-to-face account opening, while Bithumb’s occurred in an internal mobile office system. What the two had in common was that attackers obtained personal information through abnormal access rather than directly stealing funds. Mirae Asset’s response said that customer identification information was not leaked, indicating that the degree of impact differed across institutions. The FSS has sent on-site inspection teams and expanded the scope of checks, showing that regulation is shifting from case-by-case handling to industry-wide systemic review.
Compared with earlier attacks that were mainly concentrated on banks and savings institutions, the addition of securities firms and cryptocurrency exchanges has extended the affected customer base from traditional finance to digital asset users. The FSS chief linked AI as a hacking tool with the simultaneous occurrence of multiple incidents, pointing to improved attack efficiency rather than a single-point vulnerability. The key indicators to watch are whether the FSS announces conclusions on the relationship among cross-institution attacks, and whether affected institutions report secondary damage or customer fund losses.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
After peripheral systems are infiltrated, what is leaked is personal information rather than funds, showing that the attack path is shifting from core trading systems to office and account-opening systems.
The simultaneous appearance of multiple incidents and the regulator's listing of AI as a factor indicate that improved attack efficiency is making simultaneous strikes on multiple targets an executable path.