South Korea investigates presidential data exposed on VirusTotal, reissues passports
Broadcaster KBS found a spreadsheet on VirusTotal with passport details and personal data of 168 people from the presidential delegation, including President Lee Jae Myung and the first lady. The file, uploaded on June 2, was removed after KBS contacted the platform; on Nov 3 the presidential office ordered an investigation and the Foreign Ministry is treating it as a data leak, with passport reissuance underway. The uploader and any downloaded copies remain unknown.
What happened
A spreadsheet with passport details and personal data of 168 people from South Korea's presidential delegation, including President Lee Jae Myung, the first lady and the protection team, was found on VirusTotal by broadcaster KBS. The upload dates to June 2 and the file was removed after KBS contacted the platform.
Why it matters
Sensitive data of passport holders, including the head of state and his protection team, was exposed on a public file-scanning service. The uploader and any downloaded copies are unknown; the Foreign Ministry is treating the case as a data leak and passport reissuance is underway.
What to do
Support the investigation ordered by the presidential office and the review of overseas-trip security. Review internal processes: do not submit sensitive documents to external scanning services without knowing how submissions are retained and shared.
For the technical team
- Affected
- Delegação presidencial da Coreia do Sul; planilha com dados de passaporte e informações pessoais de 168 pessoas, incluin · 168 people from South Korea's presidential delegation, including President Lee Jae Myung, the first lady and members of his protection team.
- Exploitation
- Data exposure reported by broadcaster KBS; upload dated June 2 and removal confirmed after contacting the platform. Uploader and any downloads unknown.
- Fix
- No fix applicable (data leak). The file was removed from VirusTotal and the Foreign Ministry is reissuing passports.
- Vector
- Spreadsheet with passport data uploaded to the public VirusTotal scanning service. No intrusion into VirusTotal has been reported; the cause remains under investigation.
- More details
- On Nov 3, the presidential office ordered an investigation and a review of overseas-trip security. Per the source, June is the reported exposure date, not a new November breach.
Timeline
KBS locates spreadsheet on VirusTotal with passport data of 168 presidential delegation members; presidential office orders investigation.
Sources 1 source
- @DailyDarkWeb @DailyDarkWeb
