The Gyeonggi Province Economy and Science Promotion Agency (GBSA) said on the 4th that it is recruiting companies to participate in its “2026 ICT SME Information Security Support Project” to protect small and medium-sized enterprises in the province from cyber threats.
The project is overseen by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), with GBSA’s Gyeonggi Information Security Support Center serving as the regional implementing body for the Gyeonggi area.
Cyber threats targeting SMEs, such as ransomware and supply chain attacks, have been continuously increasing recently. However, many SMEs struggle to respond systematically due to a lack of information security specialists and the capacity to invest in security.
This year’s support covers a total of 66 companies. The agency is recruiting 10 companies for information security consulting, 10 companies for IT security packages, and 46 companies for cloud-based security service (SECaaS) packages.
Eligible applicants are SMEs based in Gyeonggi Province under the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises. Companies holding personal information and companies in regional strategic industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual convergence, and manufacturing will receive priority support. Companies that have suffered damage from security breaches can apply regardless of whether they were previously selected for support programs.
Selected companies will have security vulnerabilities diagnosed across their personal information management systems and overall ICT infrastructure, including servers and networks, along with proposed improvement measures. Based on the consulting results, adoption of IT security packages or SECaaS will also be supported. Afterward, implementation checks will manage the status of security measures and vulnerability improvements.
The support amount is 80% of the supply price. Per company, IT security packages are supported up to 4.8 million won, and SECaaS packages up to 3.6 million won.
The Gyeonggi Information Security Support Center is a regional information security specialist institution designated by MSIT and KISA. It carries out information security consulting, security solution support, breach prevention, and information security education, serving as a regional cybersecurity hub.
Applications are accepted online through the KISA regional information security support center website until the end of November. The program may close early if the budget is fully exhausted.
Hyun Chang-ha, standing director of GBSA’s Future New Industry Division, said, “As digital transformation accelerates, cybersecurity has become a core competitiveness for the sustainable growth of companies,” adding, “Through this project, we will spare no effort in supporting SMEs in the province to respond preemptively to cyber threats and build a safe digital management environment.”
