Ethical Hacking News
Coupang has announced a $1.17 billion settlement to compensate its 33.7 million data breach victims, making it one of the largest payouts ever recorded in South Korea's history. The company's cybersecurity crisis highlights the need for robust measures and employee training to prevent such incidents in the future.
Coupang has announced a $1.17 billion settlement to compensate its customers whose personal data was exposed in a data breach. The breach affected 33.7 million customers and exposed sensitive information such as names, email addresses, and order details. The primary suspect behind the breach is a 43-year-old Chinese national who worked for Coupang's IT department. Coupang aims to restore customer trust by providing affected customers with four single-use purchase vouchers totaling 50,000 won.
Coupang, the South Korean e-commerce giant, has announced a staggering $1.17 billion settlement to compensate its 33.7 million customers whose personal data was exposed in a devastating data breach last month. The massive payout will be distributed gradually, starting on January 15, 2026, to all Coupang customers, including those who were both registered and non-registered members, as well as customers who had canceled their membership.
The $1.17 billion settlement is one of the largest ever recorded in South Korea's history, and it's a testament to the severity of the breach that exposed sensitive information such as names, email addresses, physical addresses, and order details of 33.7 million Koreans. The breach was discovered only in mid-November, despite being first reported on June 24.
According to Coupang, the primary suspect behind the breach is a 43-year-old Chinese national who worked for the company in its IT department between November 2022 and some point in 2024 when he left the firm. The suspect, however, did not transfer any of the stolen data to others, and he subsequently deleted it from his devices as well.
In an effort to cooperate with the investigation, Coupang contacted the former employee directly earlier this month, met with them, and eventually recovered their desktop computer's hard drives containing the sensitive data. A MacBook Air laptop belonging to the suspect was also recovered from a river where they had disposed of it in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The authorities, aided by Mandiant, Palo Alto Networks, and Ernst & Young, have been investigating the breach since then. According to their findings, the perpetrator accessed 33 million accounts but retained user data from approximately 3,000.
Coupang is taking significant steps to restore customer trust following this devastating incident. The company aims to provide each of its affected customers with four single-use purchase vouchers totaling 50,000 won, which can be used for all Coupang products, including Rocket Delivery, Rocket Overseas, Seller Rocket, and Marketplace, as well as Coupang Eats and Coupang Travel products.
The settlement comes at a critical time for Coupang, which is one of the largest retailers in South Korea. The company employs 95,000 people and has an annual revenue exceeding $30 billion. A data breach of this magnitude poses significant risks to its reputation and customer trust, and the payout will undoubtedly help to mitigate these concerns.
However, it also raises questions about how such breaches can occur within a major corporation like Coupang. The incident highlights the need for robust cybersecurity measures and employee training to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The investigation into this breach is ongoing, and more information may become available as the authorities continue their inquiry.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Coupangs-Cybersecurity-Crisis-A-117-Billion-Settlement-for-337-Million-Data-Breach-Victims-ehn.shtml
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/coupang-to-split-117-billion-among-337-million-data-breach-victims/
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/coupang-breach-affecting-337-million-users-raises-data-protection-questions/
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/240000-victims-of-coupang-data-leak-sue-south-korean-company
Published: Mon Dec 29 16:35:45 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
