Financial authorities’ hacking countermeasures / Graphic by Kim Hyeon-jeong
Concerns in the financial sector are mounting after a personal data breach (hacking) incident was confirmed at Mirae Asset Securities, South Korea’s largest securities firm, less than three days after authorities announced their intrusion prevention measures. While the government has moved to respond by conducting an emergency comprehensive investigation and building a new security system befitting the AI (artificial intelligence) era, the security industry has advised that incentives must be established to ensure the substantive implementation of these measures.
According to IT (information technology) industry sources on the 8th, some internal systems at Mirae Asset Securities were exposed to external hacking between the 4th and 5th, resulting in the leakage of account numbers for approximately 3,800 customers and over 35,000 pieces of personal data belonging to current and former employees. In this incident, a total of four affiliates within the Mirae Asset Group, including Mirae Asset Life Insurance, Mirae Asset Global Investments, and Energy Infrastructure Asset Management, were subjected to cyberattacks.
Notably, this incident occurred conspicuously at a time when authorities were rolling out countermeasures in response to successive personal data breaches in the financial sector. On the 5th, following the “Interim Meeting of the Entire Financial Sector for Innovation in Security Systems in the AI Era,” the financial authorities announced measures to address the increasing cyberattacks on the financial industry. The scale of information leakage in the financial sector disclosed by the authorities is approximately 473,000 cases, and the amount of funds stolen is estimated at around 1 billion won.
The financial authorities stated that they would respond to hacking in the financial sector by conducting a short-term comprehensive investigation to check for security vulnerabilities at each financial institution and focusing on upgrading the joint hacking monitoring system for the financial sector. Financial institutions are required to inspect their own systems and submit the results to the authorities, with regular inspections increased from once a year to twice a year. The measures also include strengthening the threat information sharing system, expanding AI-based security support for small and medium-sized financial companies, and building a long-term new AI security system.
It was confirmed that external hacking attacks at Mirae Asset Securities resulted in the leakage of account numbers for approximately 3,800 customers and personal data of 35,255 employees. November 8, 2026. / Photo by Kim Myeong-nyeon
Security industry experts acknowledged the direction of these measures but advised that implementation needs to be expedited. Just as the Mirae Asset Securities data breach appeared to occur on the same day authorities announced their countermeasures, cyberattacks continue unabated even while inspections are underway. The intent is that incentives are needed so that targeted companies and institutional investors can implement inspections and prepare countermeasures more quickly.
Professor Yeom Heung-yeol of the Department of Information Security at Soonchunhyang University said, “Since most of the cyberattacks currently occurring target the front lines of security, financial institutions must expedite their own inspections of the entire system to identify vulnerable points,” adding, “Rather than merely announcing measures, they should rapidly disseminate them across the entire financial sector, including first-tier and second-tier financial institutions, and verify implementation.”
Professor Yeom pointed out, “The Financial Security Institute provides a service called ASM (Attack Surface Management), but because it operates on a membership basis, only members can access it,” noting, “For small and medium-sized financial companies, security inspections themselves may be burdensome, so they may not be implemented quickly.” He emphasized, “Authorities or relevant institutional investors should step forward to support related budgets, resolve difficulties in the inspection process, or provide incentives to hasten the implementation of measures,” adding, “Establishing a TF (task force) dedicated solely to conducting compliance inspections is also one method.”
A security industry official said, “It is important to inspect and identify vulnerable points, but it appears insufficient to have companies perform this independently,” stating, “Effective inspections must be ensured by establishing independent external inspection departments. Systems should be put in place to allow companies to conduct inspections more objectively and cautiously, such as through mock penetration testing or unannounced inspections.”
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