Lotte Card Faces Penalties and Business Suspension After Breach of 2.97 Million Records

South Korean regulators have notified Lotte Card that it faces about 5 billion won in financial penalties and a business suspension of more than four months after hackers breached the company’s online payment system and exposed personal information belonging to about 2.97 million customers. The notice was issued by the Financial Supervisory Service, with the Financial Services Commission expected to finalize the sanctions.

Investigators found that Lotte Card had also failed to apply sufficient encryption to log files, adding to the severity of the case. The action represents a second major penalty tied to the same incident after the country’s data protection watchdog previously imposed an additional 9.62 billion won fine, underscoring South Korea’s tougher enforcement posture, which can include suspending new customer sign-ups and penalizing executives after major breaches.