SEOUL, December 16 (AJP) - Hacking crimes in South Korea have surged alongside advances in artificial intelligence, as generative AI tools lower the barriers to launching cyberattacks, according to a report released by the Korean National Police University.
The university’s Crime Policy Research Institute said 2,617 hacking cases were recorded between January and September this year, up 30.6 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Of those cases, 551 were solved, lifting the arrest rate to 21 percent, an increase of 3 percentage points from last year. Despite the improvement, the institute said investigative outcomes remain constrained by the growing sophistication of hacking techniques.
“While investigative capabilities have improved to some extent, the rapid evolution of hacking methods is making crime tracking and prevention increasingly difficult,” the institute said in the report.
The expansion of online and cloud-based systems across the corporate and public sectors has widened the pool of potential targets, while hackers are increasingly using AI to accelerate and scale their attacks.
Generative AI can automatically design attack scenarios based on learned hacking patterns, posing a qualitatively new threat. By reducing the need for advanced coding skills, the technology allows even relatively inexperienced users to carry out cyberattacks.
Overall cybercrime also continued to rise, increasing 22.6 percent through September from a year earlier. Cases of cyber sexual violence climbed 22.4 percent over the same period, the institute said.
* This article, published by Economic Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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