South Korea Ministry Offers Trade-Secret Certification After Startup Program Data Breach

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Monday it will provide trade secret original certification services to applicants of the 'Startup for All' program to help safeguard their business ideas after a data breach. First Vice Minister Roh Yong-seok made the announcement during a briefing at the government complex in Seoul.

Roh apologized for the breach that exposed email addresses, summaries of startup ideas and judges' evaluation comments belonging to 5,000 applicants who passed the first round.

The breach occurred after an artificial intelligence solutions company exploited a security vulnerability on the program website. A total of 63,000 applicants applied to the audition-style startup incubation project launched earlier this year. Of the 5,000 who advanced past the first round, 1,000 will proceed to a multistage audition process and about 100 finalists will compete in a nationwide competition.

Final winners are eligible for up to 1 billion won, or US$654,500, in support. A trade secret original certification verifies the existence and possession of confidential business information at a specific point in time. Roh said the government will conduct thorough external investigations and security inspections to support affected applicants and prevent similar incidents.

"We will mobilize all available measures to address concerns over the potential leakage of ideas submitted by the 5,000 applicants selected for the 'Startup for All' program," Roh said.