S. Korean financial firms plan countermeasures vs cyber-attacks from overseas

A total of 37 hacking cases targeting South Korean financial firms from overseas over the past five years until August prompted calls for financial authorities to impose tougher security measures.

Data from the Financial Supervisory Service revealed that the majority of the cases involved DDoS attacks, followed by financial information leakage and computer system errors.

There were also two cases of malicious code infection.

The Korea Exchange, internet-only banks Kakao Bank and K Bank, GG Investment Management, Pepper Savings Bank, and online commerce firm 11st faced DDoS attacks, which disables computer systems by abruptly swamping them with massive traffic.

During the three-day Chuseok holiday, DDos hackers reportedly tried to penetrate the electronic infrastructure of two KEB Hana Bank and Woori Bank.

However, due to the capabilities of the financial firms’ risk management systems to counter mounting cyberthreats, the damage from the recent global hacking attempts was minimal.

The regulator Financial Services Commission and related government agencies were ascertaining countermeasures against potential DDoS attacks.