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華爾街日報Coupang Stock Jumps After Company Clears Air On Massive Data Leak Probe
South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) rose nearly 6% on Friday after the company said its investigation into a former employee suspected of leaking customer data was conducted in close coordination with government authorities.
The clarification followed market speculation that Coupang had handled the probe independently, without official oversight or third-party verification. The company said it worked with authorities throughout the process, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Government-Guided Investigation Details
Coupang said the government instructed it to contact the former employee on December 9. Acting on that guidance, the company handed over the employee's desktop hard drive and laptop to the police on December 21. It also submitted a detailed report of meetings with the suspect and all collected evidence to the authorities on December 23.
Also Read: Cybersecurity Nightmare: Billions of Records from Major Platforms Leaked in Largest Data Leak
A day earlier, Coupang said forensic analysis identified the former employee as responsible for the breach. The individual later confessed and explained how the data was accessed.
According to the company, the suspect used stolen security keys to access basic customer information linked to nearly 34 million accounts. However, data from only about 3,000 accounts was saved and later deleted.
Breach Fallout And Leadership Changes
Coupang shares had fallen 5% on December 1 after the company disclosed a data breach affecting 33.7 million users. The leaked information included names, email addresses, delivery locations, account details, and some order data, described by local media as South Korea's largest data leak.
The country's Personal Information Protection Commission has launched an investigation that could result in fines of up to roughly $770 million.
About three weeks after the breach became public, Coupang CEO Park Dae-jun resigned, CNBC reported. Coupang appointed Harold Rogers, its chief administrative officer and general counsel, as interim CEO.
Analysts say the incident highlights broader cybersecurity risks in South Korea. Peter Kim of KB Securities told CNBC that cost-cutting pressures may have led to underinvestment in cybersecurity across Korean firms.
CPNG Price Action: Coupang shares were up 6.23% at $24.22 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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