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| ▲ This undated file photo shows police officers standing near Ttareungyi public bikes on a Seoul street. (Yonhap) |
Seoul public bike-teen hackers
2 teenagers nabbed for hacking Seoul's public bike server
SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- Hackers who stole a huge amount of personal information about members of the Seoul city government's public bike sharing service, named Ttareungyi, in 2024 have been confirmed to be two teenagers, police said Monday.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said two high school students have been referred to the prosecution without detention on charges of violating the information and communications network law in connection with the Ttareungyi-related data breach.
The duo is suspected of hacking into Seoul Facilities Corp.'s Ttareungyi server for two days, starting June 28, 2024, when they were middle school students, and stealing personal information of 4.62 million members.
The leaked information included usernames, mobile phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, dates of birth, genders and weights. Names and resident registration numbers were not leaked.
Police suspect that the hacking was probably committed for the purpose of selling personal information, but they have yet to find any evidence of information leaks to third parties.
One of the suspects told police he committed the hacking out of curiosity and a desire to show off, while the other has been exercising his right to remain silent.
The police have sought an arrest warrant for one of the two, but the prosecution has rejected the request considering his juvenile delinquent status.
Their crimes were discovered during the police's separate investigation into a hacking attack on a private mobility rental company in April 2024.
The police are also investigating Seoul Facilities Corp. officials for poorly managing the server containing the personal information of Ttareungyi members.
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