President Lee Calls for Thorough Investigation into Data Breaches at Financial and Public Institutions

President Lee Jae-myung has directed a thorough investigation and the establishment of measures in response to recent data breaches at financial and public institutions.

Chief Spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong announced on October 4 that President Lee has received reports on the recent data breaches at financial and public institutions and has emphasized the need for a serious approach to the situation, instructing for a comprehensive investigation and the implementation of effective measures.

Recently, several incidents of data breaches have occurred in the financial sector. At Shinhan Bank, an external attack on a loan recruitment service resulted in the exposure of personal information, including names, phone numbers, and annual incomes, of approximately 25,000 customers. KB Kookmin Bank also reported that abnormal external access to its internal mobile support system led to the leakage of personal and credit information of 119 customers.

Yeogaram Savings Bank is also believed to have experienced a data breach due to external hacking, with personal information, including names, birth dates, and contact details of around 40,000 customers, reportedly compromised. The Financial Services Commission convened security officials from banks on October 2 to inspect external access routes and anomaly detection systems.

In the public sector, it has been confirmed that Government 24 was targeted by an external attack. The attacker exploited a security vulnerability in the Government 24 children's website on August 17, leading to the leakage of 11 memory dump files containing resident registration numbers and IDs and passwords. The exact scale of the damage is still under investigation.

President Lee had previously instructed for swift and accurate fact-finding and strict accountability measures during a major data breach incident involving Tving last month, as well as actions to prevent secondary damage.