On the 18th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Ministry of Science and Technology) announced that e-mail addresses, summary of ideas, and review reviews of 5,000 successful applicants of the "Everyone's Start-up" project were leaked.
According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, attempts to access private information have been made since the personal profiles of all successful start-up projects were released at 9 a.m. on the 15th. Personal profiles include public items such as nicknames, the number of followers, and whether they will advance to the round. Depending on the user's choice, email addresses, idea summaries, and self-introduction can also be disclosed. According to an investigation by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the summary of the project idea, the review review, and the email address, which is personal information, were leaked. Other personal information, such as the real names of successful applicants and mobile phone numbers, and detailed ideas were not leaked, according to the survey.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups recognized this through user inquiries posted on everyone's start-up platform at 3 p.m. on the same day and took measures to block unauthorized access routes around 4 p.m. It has also launched an emergency security check for the entire system. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is currently checking whether additional leaks have been made and the use of information. On the 18th, the person was notified of the leakage of personal information, and he also reported the leakage of personal information to the Korea Internet & Security Agency.
Meanwhile, an official from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, "Everyone's start-ups operate a profile disclosure function to promote idea sharing and collaboration among participants," adding, "Of the 5,000 successful applicants, 3,381 had released the idea summary information themselves." As for AI solution companies that sent promotional emails to leaked e-mail addresses, he added, "There are operating regulations prohibiting promotional activities for participants, and we judged that they violated this, so we immediately excluded them from support."
