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Government agencies told to examine exposed systems
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has ordered more than 2,100 central government agencies, local governments and other public institutions to conduct emergency cybersecurity reviews following a series of breaches in the country’s financial and public sectors.
Authorities said the NIS, South Korea’s primary intelligence agency, sent the request on the 22nd of last month. Each institution must conduct its own review using an agency-issued checklist.
The NIS is emphasizing “attack surface management,” a cybersecurity practice focused on identifying systems that hackers could reach. Agencies have been instructed to examine internet-facing assets, security monitoring systems and whether critical software patches have been installed.
The intelligence service is separately inspecting internet access points connected to major public information and communications infrastructure. It aims to complete those reviews by mid-November.
Breaches hit banks and public services
The expanded scrutiny follows a string of security incidents involving South Korean financial institutions. A leak of personal information at Shinhan Bank was identified in late September, followed by breaches affecting KB Kookmin Bank, Hana Bank, BNK Busan Bank, savings banks and consumer finance companies.
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission convened an emergency meeting on the 4th of last month and instructed institutions to inspect all externally exposed information technology assets.
Public systems have also been targeted. In early February, the Foreign Ministry blocked the Korea National Diplomatic Academy’s online education system after receiving reports of abnormal access. Investigators determined that an attacker had taken control of a server in April or May of last year and continued accessing it until February.
On Aug. 17, attackers exploited a vulnerability in a children’s portal operated through Government24, South Korea’s central online gateway for public services. Memory dump files and other data were leaked from 11 servers.
The discovery of a critical vulnerability in the PHP programming language prompted the government to add emergency inspections to its existing cybersecurity reviews.
Public and private infrastructure under review
Since May, the NIS has worked with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other agencies on joint security inspections intended to prepare for cyberthreats involving advanced artificial intelligence technology, including Anthropic’s “Mithos.” The reviews have covered core control systems, public-facing websites and security equipment, with more detailed inspections of systems closely tied to daily life.
The Ministry of Science and ICT is overseeing reviews in the private sector. Its inspections cover 111 institutions responsible for about 170 major information and communications infrastructure sites. The ministry is examining internet-facing assets such as servers and websites and expects to finish as early as this month or by the end of the year.
The ministry has also urged corporate chief information security officers to prepare comprehensive responses, while the Korea Internet and Security Agency has increased notices about software updates and other protective measures.
Under South Korean law, major information and communications infrastructure includes critical systems whose disruption could have broad consequences for national security, the economy or society. Oversight is divided between the NIS for public-sector facilities and the Ministry of Science and ICT for privately operated infrastructure.
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