Surge in Court Hacking Attempts: 240,000 in First Eight Months of 2026

This year, from January to August, there were approximately 240,000 hacking attempts targeting the court's computer network, significantly surpassing the total for the previous year.

According to data submitted by the Supreme Court's Court Administration Office to Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Dong-a, the court's security information and event management system detected 239,145 hacking attempts from January to August.

This figure is 1.7 times higher than last year's total of 141,528. Compared to the same period last year, which recorded 101,205 attempts, this year's attempts have increased by about 2.4 times.

Monthly, March recorded the highest number of hacking attempts at 48,263, followed by May with 39,915, June with 34,083, and August with 30,576.

In previous years, monthly hacking attempts typically fell below 20,000, but this year, every month from January to August, except for January, exceeded that threshold. The courts have experienced about 100,000 hacking attempts annually. The figures for previous years include 142,514 in 2021, 126,212 in 2022, 114,070 in 2023, and 98,171 in 2024.

Between June 2021 and January 2023, a hacking incident resulted in the leakage of personal information of approximately 18,000 individuals.

However, an internal audit conducted last year regarding this incident resulted in only stern warnings and other minor actions. The audit findings indicated that the Information Security Office of the Court Administration Office received departmental warnings. At that time, three individuals, including the head of the Seoul High Court's Information Management Division, were not penalized, while five received stern warnings. Two retired individuals were classified as unpunishable.