Ministry of Science and ICT. [Herald DB]
Ministry of Science and ICT. [Herald DB]

The government has launched security inspections at roughly 170 major information and communications infrastructure sites — including the country's three major telecom carriers and data centers — as AI-assisted hacking attacks against the financial sector and other industries have become an increasingly real threat.

The Ministry of Science and ICT is conducting security checks at 172 facilities, including 111 institutions that manage key private-sector information and communications infrastructure, according to industry sources Wednesday.

Critical information and communications infrastructure refers to core systems whose compromise could have serious consequences for national security, the economy or society. Such facilities are designated and managed under the Act on the Protection of Information and Communications Infrastructure, with the Ministry of Science and ICT as the supervising authority.

The inspections follow a directive from President Lee Jae Myung, who ordered a comprehensive review and reinforcement of security systems across key national infrastructure after a series of AI-powered cyberattacks and personal data breaches hit the financial and IT sectors.

Among the facilities covered are SK Telecom, KT Corp and LG Uplus — all three of which suffered hacking incidents last year — along with the data centers they operate.

The checks are expected to focus on the management of internet-facing assets such as externally exposed servers and web pages, as well as vulnerabilities in attack surfaces. The move comes after recent financial-sector breaches raised concerns that poorly managed internet-facing assets may have been exploited as entry points for attackers.

On top of existing inspection procedures, authorities plan to distribute a checklist reflecting the causes of the recent financial-sector incidents and conduct attack-surface assessments of internet-facing assets.

The Ministry of Science and ICT aims to complete its review of each institution's self-inspection results and follow-up checks by the end of this year at the latest.


ko@heraldcorp.com