Data breach hits Seoul bike-sharing service
4.6M victims get free bikes for a month
Biker in Seoul, 2020. Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
- Seoul’s Ttareungi bike-sharing service is giving 4.6 million data breach victims free 30-day bike passes.
- Two teenagers hacked the service in June 2024 and stole names, phone numbers, birth dates, and other personal data.
- Seoul Facilities Corporation reported the breach, notified users, and launched a joint review of app security weaknesses.
- Officials say no misuse has been reported, but the breach raises concerns about security in public digital services.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Seoul’s Ttareungi public bike-sharing service is offering over 4.6 million victims of a data breach the opportunity to use bicycles in the South Korean capital for free for a month.
In June 2024, two teenagers hacked the rental bike service’s server and stole the personal information of more than 4.62 million people.
The exfiltrated data included names, phone numbers, dates of birth, gender, body weight, and account IDs.
Seoul Facilities Corporation, the owner of the public bike-sharing service, immediately filed a report with the National Police Agency and the Personal Information Protection Commission. Affected customers were informed of the incident the very next day.
In addition, an emergency response group with the Seoul Metropolitan Government was launched to discuss vulnerabilities in the app’s authentication system that were directly responsible for the data breach.
“We sincerely apologize once again for causing concern and inconvenience to citizens due to this personal information breach. We will make every effort to completely overhaul our security system so that citizens can use Ttareungi without concerns over their personal information,” Seoul Facilities Corporation President Han Kook-young said in a statement at the time.
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To this day, there haven’t been any reports of the stolen information being misused for phishing, fraud, or identity theft.
Nevertheless, the bike rental service provider is offering victims of the data breach a 30-day pass, allowing them to rent a bike for free for one hour per day for a month.
According to local news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, the coupon will be distributed through the Ttareungi app in August. The pass must be redeemed within 3 months.
