South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered a thorough investigation and response measures following a series of personal data leaks involving banks, financial companies and public agencies, the presidential office said Sunday.
Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Lee Eog-weon held an emergency meeting with financial industry associations, regulators and executives from affected institutions, warning that the sector must respond with the highest level of vigilance, Reuters reported.
The FSC said authorities could not rule out the possibility that artificial intelligence was used in the attacks. Lee Eog-weon called for an “AI attacks defended by AI” approach and indicated that broader upgrades to the financial sector’s cybersecurity framework were needed.
The meeting followed similar discussions on Friday after Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and other institutions reported cyberattacks. Yonhap News Agency also reported breaches at Hana Bank and Woori Bank.
The financial regulator said it had launched on-site investigations after Shinhan Bank reported a breach on Sept. 30 and had since expanded its probes to other reported incidents.
Authorities have instructed financial institutions to conduct comprehensive security inspections, tighten access controls, reduce external system access and strengthen measures to protect consumers.
The FSC also ordered the rapid sharing of attack methods, internet protocol addresses and other threat information across the financial industry to help prevent further incidents.
Yonhap reported that regulators believe the attacks may have involved broad scans of multiple financial companies for vulnerabilities rather than targeted attacks against a single institution.
According to data submitted by banks to lawmakers, attack traffic was traced to IP addresses in several countries, including the United States, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.
The emergency meeting was brought forward from Oct. 7 after additional breaches were reportedly identified at second-tier financial institutions, according to South Korean media reports.
South Korea’s main opposition People Power Party has also called for an investigation into possible North Korean involvement, citing previous cyberattacks against South Korean financial institutions that have been attributed to Pyongyang.
News.Az
By Aysel Mammadzada
