Description

A South Korean media outlet has accused local telecom company KT of deliberately infecting some customers with malware due to their excessive use of peer-to-peer (P2P) downloading tools. The alleged incident, which reportedly affected 600,000 users of "web hard drives" (a term for online storage services in South Korea), involved malware inserted into the Grid Program. This program facilitates data exchange among KT users through P2P methods. As a result, file exchange services ceased functioning, prompting numerous complaints from users on bulletin boards. The malware distribution reportedly began in May 2020 and continued for nearly five months, originating from within one of KT’s own data centers. The incident has attracted significant attention, leading to a police investigation. Authorities have searched KT's headquarters and datacenters, seizing evidence to determine if the telecom company violated South Korea’s Communications Secrets Protection Act (CSPA) and the Information and Communications Network Act (ICNA). The investigation has revealed a dedicated KT team involved in detecting and disrupting file transfers, with roles ranging from malware development to distribution and wiretapping. Thirteen KT employees and partner employees have been identified and referred for potential prosecution. KT has defended its actions, claiming that the web hard drive P2P service itself is malicious, necessitating their intervention. While managing network traffic is common practice among South Korean telecoms, distributing malware and deleting customer files are unacceptable actions that compromise user trust and security.