The origin of this incident was revealed to the world on the 18th when the information leak was announced on the Korea Entrepreneurship Promotion Agency website. The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency recognized the seriousness of the matter and immediately responded quickly by ordering the Daejeon Police Agency Cyber ​​Investigation Unit to conduct a pre-booking investigation (internal investigation). The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is also making every effort to determine the cause of the leak by requesting a formal investigation from the police through the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Promotion. Initially, the possibility of a direct hacking of the government system was raised, but a closer investigation revealed that the security network of an external partner supporting project participants, not the server of a government ministry or affiliated organization, was breached. This proves that there are fundamental loopholes in the outsourcing management system for government projects, and once again warns of the risk of chain security incidents.

The leaked information goes beyond simply personally identifiable data. The seriousness of the damage is even greater as it includes the e-mail addresses of successful applicants, a summary of key startup ideas submitted during the screening process, and the evaluation opinions of the judges. In particular, abnormal API calls were made in the artificial intelligence (AI) solution provider's back-end system and large amounts of private data were collected, clearly showing how weak the security protocols in the inter-system linkage process were. For entrepreneurs, ideas are the trade secrets that determine the survival of a company, but the fact that the platform that was supposed to protect them has instead become a conduit for leaks raises fundamental questions about the government's technology management capabilities.

As the situation spreads, government authorities are busy preparing immediate solutions. Minister of SMEs and Startups Han Seong-sook expressed an official apology, saying that she fully feels the heavy responsibility as the head of the relevant ministry, and First Vice Minister Noh Yong-seok also bowed his head, promising to prevent recurrence and minimize damage. The government has proposed measures to support victims with the cost of registering original trade secret certificates and provide lawyer consultation to prepare for future disputes by utilizing the technology escrow system. In addition, we are taking desperate measures to restore trust, such as adjusting the launch date of the second phase of the next project, 'Everybody's Startup,' but many are pointing out that it is not enough to restore the trust of entrepreneurs that has already been damaged.

This incident clearly revealed the ‘shadow of outsourcing’ that government projects face in the era of digital transformation. The key cause of this incident is that security was not sufficiently reviewed in the process of introducing an external solution for convenience and that follow-up management of data access rights was lax. Although government-led technology development and startup support should prioritize security above all else, in the pursuit of efficiency, the core values ​​that should be protected have been lost. In the future investigation process, it will be necessary to clearly determine whether the company in question was negligent, as well as the extent of management and supervision responsibility of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Institute of Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship Development.