SEOUL: South Korea’s largest carrier SK Telecom started on Monday (Apr 28) to replace mobile SIM chips for its 23 million users following a data breach, prompting alarmed customers to form long queues for the replacements.
SK Telecom announced earlier this month that it had fallen victim to a hacking incident involving malicious code, through which customers’ personal information was compromised.
It prompted a company apology and the government to order a review of the country’s overall data protection system.
SK Telecom has not given details on the extent of the damage or who was behind the attack.
“Starting from 10am (9am, Singapore time) on Monday, we will replace USIM chips free of charge for those who wish to replace them at 2,600 carrier stores nationwide,” the company said in a press release on Monday.
USIM stands for Universal Subscriber Identity Module, used in mobile networks.
The company has vowed to take full responsibility and asked users to sign up for an information protection service.
“We will also thoroughly prepare for the USIM replacement, so please visit a store,” it said.
But it has acknowledged that it has secured less than 5 per cent of the USIM cards needed for its 23 million-strong customer base, noting it will procure an additional five million chips by the end of May.
