South Korea Kept Diplomat Academy Hack Secret For Five Months
An unidentified hacker exploited a zero-day flaw and misconfigured settings to sit inside the training system for about ten months.
- Zero-day vulnerability plus misconfigured security settings let the attacker in around April or May 2025.
- Names, user IDs and emails of trainees, current and former diplomats, were exposed.
- Ministry discovered the intrusion in February 2026 but disclosed it publicly only on July 20.
Why it matters: A ministry sitting on its own diplomats' breach for five months manages its image, not the damage.
South Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release on National Diplomatic Academy cyberattack ↗ · Jul 21, 20267/21/26 · ✓ Checked✓ Check