South Korea plans to tighten cybersecurity requirements for financial institutions, with 130 companies having security flaws

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea stated that after investigating 16 companies (including cryptocurrency exchanges) involved in a previous security incident, it plans to implement stricter cybersecurity requirements for financial institutions. The agency noted that in an industry review covering 555 financial companies, 130 companies were found to have cybersecurity deficiencies, with approximately 100,000 pieces of customer information leaked, including names, contact details, and identification numbers.

Affected companies include Streami, the operator of Gopax, and the cryptocurrency trading platform Prabang, which previously disclosed that a hacking incident on October 2 led to the leakage of some customers' personal information. The FSC indicated that it is still investigating whether these incidents involved the use of artificial intelligence or if they are related to the same group of attackers.

According to the proposed reforms, larger financial institutions will undergo vulnerability assessments at least twice a year. The regulatory agency also plans to improve the information-sharing system and is considering using artificial intelligence for security monitoring of small businesses. Additionally, the FSC is considering allowing supplementary cybersecurity inspections outside of the regular assessment schedule in the event of an urgent threat to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.