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S Korean engineer charged in alleged computer break-in

An engineer with a South Korean company that makes computer games was arrested yesterday for allegedly breaking into the computer system of a Taiwanese competitor and stealing vital business information, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) reported.

The computer engineer, surnamed Lee, was accused by INSREA Game Center Corp (因思銳) of penetrating its Internet firewall and stealing business intelligence and deleting vital corporate uplink data, CIB investigators said.

Lee was assigned to Taipei by Webzen Inc, a South Korea-based online gaming developer. He was arrested at his Taipei County home and handed over to the Taipei Prosecutors' Office for further questioning.

According to CIB investigators, INSREA and Webzen were business partners until they had a falling out in recent months due to competition and conflicts of interest.

After examining and cross-comparing computer data provided by INSREA, investigators concluded that Lee was the one who hacked into INSREA's system and destroyed information after the two companies ended their partnership last August.

During yesterday's questioning, Lee said that INSREA was the sole agent of Webzen products in this country. After it established its own branch office in Taipei, Webzen wanted to retrieve part of the operational business rights for some of the games in Taiwan, so he was assigned to Taipei.

Lee denied the hacking accusation, claiming that for the convenience of data transfer, he was authorized by INSREA to use that company's Internet protocol and he changed some relevant information while INSREA staff looked on.

But according to the CIB investigators, the INSREA people said that Lee continued to intrude into INSREA's core systems after the companies ended the relationship last August, resulting in huge losses for INSREA.
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