Coupang said this week that personal information from about 33.7 million customer accounts was exposed after a data breach. The number is far higher than the first estimate of 4,500 accounts, which the company reported earlier in November.
The updated number shows that the leak touched a very large part of Coupang’s user base. The information taken includes basic details like names, phone numbers, emails and delivery addresses. Some order information was also accessed.
Coupang said the breach did not involve payment data, credit card numbers or login details. The company said those systems were not reached.
According to Coupang, the attackers came in through overseas servers. The activity appears to have started around June 24. Coupang said it cut off the route the attackers used and added extra checks inside its systems.
The company is working with outside security teams and is also cooperating with police and regulators in South Korea. Coupang apologized for the incident and asked customers to be careful with any message that claims to be from the company.
Coupang had around 24.7 million active users in its main commerce service in the third quarter. With the new figure, it seems that a large part of its customer base had some form of personal information exposed.
The company first reported the problem on Nov. 20, saying it believed only a few thousand accounts were affected. At that time, it said there was no sign that payment data or its internal network had been touched. Later checks showed the leak was much larger than it first thought.
Coupang said customers don’t need to change passwords or payment data, since that information was not taken. Still, the company asked users to be careful with any message that looks suspicious or asks for personal details.
Coupang is a major online shopping platform in South Korea. It handles a large amount of deliveries each day. When a company of this size has a data issue, the impact reaches many people, so the way it protects customer information becomes a serious question.
