Shinhan Bank data breach exposes personal information of 25,000 customers

Personal and credit information of about 25,000 Shinhan Bank customers linked to loan applications has been leaked. The bank suspended the affected services, completed emergency security measures and pledged to fully compensate any customers found to have suffered losses from the incident.

Shinhan Bank confirmed Thursday that an unauthorized party accessed some of its services through abnormal methods that bypassed authentication, resulting in the leak of customer data. The Financial Supervisory Service's Bank Inspection Bureau 2 and IT Inspection Bureau launched an emergency on-site inspection that day.

The leaked data includes customer names, phone numbers, annual income figures and calculated loan limits — personal and credit information tied to loan applications. Resident registration numbers for 66 customers and linked identification codes for 97 customers were also compromised. The total number of affected individuals stands at approximately 25,000.

Upon discovering the breach, Shinhan Bank immediately formed an emergency response team and activated a company-wide crisis management system. The bank completed urgent countermeasures — including blocking external IP addresses, suspending the relevant services and applying new security policies — and is working to determine the exact circumstances of the incident and the full extent of the damage.

The bank set up a dedicated inquiry menu on its website where customers can check whether their information was leaked and which items were exposed. The menu is accessible through the customer service section under "Security Services → Personal Information Protection Policy → Customer Information Leak Inquiry." A lookup menu will also be added to the Shinhan Super SOL app Thursday. A dedicated customer consultation center has been opened at 1544-2946 to handle damage reports and inquiries.

Shinhan Bank said it will fully compensate any customers confirmed to have suffered losses as a result of the breach. The bank also plans to conduct a comprehensive review of its personal credit information protection framework and introduce measures to prevent a recurrence, including improvements to work procedures and security policies as well as strengthened employee education.

"I feel a profound sense of responsibility that a data leak has occurred at a financial institution that must protect the precious assets and information of its customers," Shinhan Bank President Jung Sang-hyuk said. "I sincerely apologize for the concern and inconvenience this has caused our customers."

Jung went on to say the bank would "review the entire personal credit information protection framework from the ground up, improve work processes and strengthen employee education to ensure the utmost protection of customer information," adding that it would "devote all of our capabilities to damage recovery and prevention of recurrence so that customers can use Shinhan Bank with peace of mind."