The hacking force that simultaneously attacked the Korean financial sector was found to be one artificial intelligence (AI) hacker (same force) from China. The security industry is concerned that the hacking incident could threaten not only the financial sector but also the government and major national infrastructure assets.
On the 4th, the financial authorities judged that AI was used for the attacker’s hacking in connection with a series of personal information leaks following the recent hacking of financial companies.
“It is difficult to say definitively, but the possibility of hacking attacks using AI cannot be ruled out,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won said at the “emergency inspection meeting of the entire financial sector.”
At the meeting, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, as well as associations from all financial sectors, including banks, insurance and credit cards, gathered. During the investigation, financial authorities found traces of automated attacks using AI in some of the attacker’s IPs. Authorities believe that “ARTEX,” an AI-based penetration test tool for security checks developed in China and released as an open source, was used here.
In particular, the financial authorities are weighing the possibility that the simultaneous hacking of the financial sector was the work of the same force using ARTEX.
This is because the same attack route was identified at KB Kookmin Bank, Hana Bank, and BNK Busan Bank as a result of the financial authorities sharing the IP address that attacked Shinhan Bank, which was the first target of hacking, with other financial companies.
Financial authorities predict that the attackers will be able to carry out additional mass attacks against various institutions in the future as they are using AI agents. In this regard, the security industry predicts that the government and public institutions are likely to be the next targets.
Park Chan-am, a member of the National AI Strategy Committee’s Special Committee on Security (CEO Stillian), said in an interview with Maekyung on the same day, “When Antropic’s vulnerability analysis AI ‘Mitos’ appeared, the threat spread to large companies, the government, and public institutions after the financial sector became the first target.”
Some point out that the accident is a “talent” who neglected to come up with measures. This is because they have already predicted hacking of external vulnerable points using AI everywhere. In June, a seminar by the Korea Financial Research Institute under the theme of “The implications of cybersecurity trends for the financial sector” also warned that an AI agent could hack the entire database (DB) of the banking sector.
“President Lee Jae Myung was briefed on the recent leakage of personal information by financial institutions and public institutions,” presidential spokesman Kang Yoo-jung said. “We have ordered a thorough investigation and countermeasures with a stern awareness of the issue.”
[Reporter YEON GUE WOOK / Reporter Luncheonjong / Reporter Kim Sangjoon]
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