South Korea’s privacy watchdog fines PayPal $664,000 over data breaches

PayPal Holdings, the multinational online payments giant, has received fines of $663,863 (922 million won) after two security incidents exposed the personal information of over 23,000 customers.

The penalty imposed by South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission stemmed from what the regulator said were PayPal’s inadequate security protocols and negligence in protecting the personal information of thousands of South Korean customers.

The fines are linked to:

• A cyberattack from December 2021 that led to the exposure of 22,000 customer names, addresses and photos
• A phishing attack targeting an employee that exposed the private data of over 1,000 customers
• A credential stuffing attack that compromised more than 300 customers' personal information

The watchdog also penalized the online payment platform for multiple delays in reporting the incidents and data leaks to the proper authorities.

Data breaches are inevitable in the digital era, and online payment systems make for highly profitable targets that financially motivate cybercriminals.

To ensure financial safety and avoid account compromise, we recommend you stick to good cyber hygiene to protect your PayPal account, money and data:

• Use a strong password, unique to your PayPal account
• Enable multi-factor authentication on your account
• Review your account permissions to remove any linked services you no longer use
• Stay vigilant against phishing attempts. Watch out for red flags such as requests for sensitive information, spelling mistakes and unfamiliar domains from the email sender.
• Notify PayPal of any suspicious activity

If you need a hand monitoring for data breaches and leaks, check out Bitdefender Identity Protection.

With our comprehensive identity protection tool, you can see your digital footprint at a glance, check your breach history, and map risk. If you’re affected by a breach, you receive notifications about the event, details about your data, and easy, 1-click action items to minimize risks.

Read more about our identity protection and privacy solutions here.