South Korea is planning tighter cybersecurity requirements for financial institutions following an investigation into security incidents that affected 16 companies, including cryptocurrency exchanges.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced plans to pursue improved threat monitoring, more frequent security assessments, and stronger accountability for executives. The move comes after an industry-wide review uncovered cybersecurity deficiencies at 130 out of 555 evaluated financial companies.
According to the FSC, approximately 100,000 pieces of customer information were exposed across the affected firms, encompassing names, contact details, and identification numbers. Among the impacted businesses are Gopax operator Streami and crypto trading platform Prabang. Prabang previously disclosed that an October 2 hack exposed the personal information of some customers.
Under the proposed reforms, larger financial institutions would be required to undergo vulnerability assessments at least twice a year. The regulator also plans to enhance information-sharing systems and is considering the use of artificial intelligence for security monitoring among smaller companies.
Additionally, the regulator is weighing the implementation of unscheduled cybersecurity inspections outside of regular assessment schedules when urgent threats emerge. The FSC stated that investigations are ongoing to determine whether the incidents involved the use of artificial intelligence or are linked to the same attackers.
