Users of Samsung Pay are now concerned whether the service is still safe for their credit cards. The recently acquired LoopPay payments system developer has been hacked.
Samsung is trying to keep the news from bringing more damage to their mobile payment system. The South Korean tech giant has already launched a press conference in an effort to ease the concerns of everyone.
LoopPay was hacked by Codoso Group, also known as the Sunshock Group. The hackers are believed to be Chinese, according to SC Magazine. Samsung now says that the service is still safe to use.
Samsung Pay relies on LoopPay's technology. The company said that the Chinese hackers were not able to penetrate their networks deep enough to compromise the private data of their customers.
Executives from LoopPay said that the group of hackers were probably after the company's magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology. None of the hackers were able to compromise the tech data.
In a statement, the company said that Samsung Pay was not really affected by the hacking incident. They also emphasized that personal payment information was not stolen, according to TheStreet. Hackers meant to target the LoopPay corporate network, which was separate from where Samsung's payment system is located.
Chinese hacking attacks have been rampant in recent months. Some reports have said that most of the advanced hacking groups from China were actually backed by their government.
In Samsung Pay's case, the hackers were after intellectual property and not really the customers' data. In addition, the number of users that rely on the service are not really that much compared to the other existing NFC-based payment services.
Apple Pay launched last year and is available only on iPhone 6 or later devices. One disadvantage is that only few retailers support it as of the moment.
Android Pay is not only similarly named, but also has the same functions as well. However, all Android phones with NFC technology will be able to use the tech.
Samsung Pay works only on Samsung phones like the Galaxy S6 and other later models. The magnetic strip technology may set it apart from the others, according to Time.
Users may choose among the other payment methods after the Samsung Pay hacking incident. Still, the company clearly stated that it wasn't affected at all.
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