Major E-Commerce Platform Suffers Massive Data Breach, 33.7 Million Accounts Exposed

Coupang, an E-Commerce giant has confirmed that personal information from 33.7 million customer accounts was illegally accessed, marking one of the largest data exposure incidents in South Korea’s history. The company disclosed the scale of the breach on November 29, after initially reporting only 4,500 affected accounts on November 18.

Scale of the Exposure

The number of compromised accounts is nearly 10 million higher than Coupang’s 24.7 million active customers recorded in the third quarter. Industry observers say the figures suggest that almost all of the platform’s customer information has been exposed.

Details of Leaked Information

According to the E-Commerce giant, the compromised data includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, and delivery address books. Some order details were also accessed. The company emphasized that payment information, credit card numbers, and login credentials remain secure.

Comparisons to Past Breaches

Analysts note that the incident surpasses the SK Telecom breach earlier this year, which exposed data from 27 million subscribers. Coupang’s case is considered more sensitive because of its dominant role in E-Commerce and daily consumer reliance.

Timeline of Unauthorized Access

Coupang estimates that unauthorized access began on June 24 through overseas servers. While the company insists that payment systems were not affected, the scale of the breach has raised concerns about long‑term consequences for consumer trust.

Questions Over Cause of Breach

Although Coupang has maintained there was no external hacking, the rapid escalation in reported numbers has fueled speculation. Some industry voices suggest the exposure could be linked to internal actions rather than purely external attacks.