Coupang, Inc. (CPNG) shares jumped Friday after the company clarified that its investigation into a former employee wasn't some rogue internal affair, but rather a coordinated effort with government authorities from day one.

Setting the Record Straight

The e-commerce giant said its probe into the suspected data leak was carried out under government direction, directly countering speculation that it had gone it alone. According to Yonhap News Agency, authorities instructed Coupang on December 9 to contact the former employee at the center of the case.

The timeline tells the story: Coupang handed over the employee's desktop hard drive and laptop to police on December 21, then submitted a detailed report of all meetings with the suspect and collected evidence to authorities on December 23. A day before that, the company said forensic analysis identified the former employee as responsible for the breach. The individual later confessed and explained how they pulled it off.

What Actually Happened

The suspect used stolen security keys to access basic customer information tied to nearly 34 million accounts. Here's the silver lining: while the access was massive, data from only about 3,000 accounts was actually saved, and that data was later deleted.

Shares had taken a beating earlier this month when Coupang first disclosed the breach, which affected approximately 33.7 million users. The compromised information included names, email addresses, delivery locations, account details and some order data. South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission has launched an investigation that could lead to fines of up to roughly $770 million.

Price Action: At the time of writing, Coupang shares were trading 10.18% higher at $25.10.