SK Telecom, South Korea's leading mobile carrier, vowed Sunday to take full responsibility for any damage to customers caused by a recent network hacking incident involving the potential leak of subscriber information.
Earlier this month, the carrier detected signs of a massive leak of customers' universal subscriber identity module data due to a cyberattack and offered the free replacement of the USIMs of all of its 23 million users.
"You can prevent hacking damage by subscribing to the USIM protection service. Please trust us and sign up," the company said in a release. "If any damage occurs, SK Telecom will take full responsibility."
As of 6 p.m., 5.54 million people had subscribed to the service, accounting for 24 percent of the carrier's total subscribers.
The company emphasized that the service is as effective at preventing damage as replacing the USIM itself.
The free replacement service will begin Monday, and the company has asked customers to make online reservations to minimize inconvenience.
Acting President Han Duck-soo instructed officials to review whether the company's response measures were appropriate and to inspect the country's overall data protection system against cyberattacks.
A joint civilian-government probe into the data breach is under way and is expected to take about one to two months, officials said. (Yonhap)
