South Korea prosecutes KT over server log deletions following malware breach

South Korean authorities are prosecuting telecommunications company KT after its chief privacy officer ordered the deletion of server logs during a malware breach, Chosunbiz reported. The Personal Information Protection Commission filed a formal complaint alleging that the executive and the company hindered the investigation. According to the regulator, the chief privacy officer instructed staff to wipe logs from 38 infected servers in 2025. [1]

Chosunbiz reported that employees followed the order on a portion of the targeted infrastructure, resulting in the deletion of user access records from 10 servers. Lee Jeong-ryeol, vice chair of the Personal Information Protection Commission, stated during a July 29 plenary meeting that it was unprecedented for an official directly responsible for personal data to issue such an order. [1]

South Korea is located in East Asia and has a population of approximately 52 million people. As FTMQ Security reported earlier, cybersecurity researchers previously identified Linux backdoors targeting telecommunications and network-edge appliances in South Korea. FTMQ Security also reported earlier that the country's privacy regulator previously fined e-commerce giant Coupang 620 billion won following a customer data breach in November 2025. [2][4][5]

The privacy commission has referred the matter for criminal prosecution following the completion of its review into the server log deletions. [1]