South Korea Regulator Orders Financial Firms to Check Security After Bank Cyberattacks
South Korea's Financial Services Commission on Friday ordered financial firms to inspect their computer security systems after cyberattacks on major banks leaked customers' personal information, including at Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank and KB Kookmin Bank.
The regulator's instruction followed a disclosure from Hana Bank that personal information of 89 customers had been leaked in a hacking attack. The leaked data included resident registration numbers, names, addresses and phone numbers, the bank said. A Hana Bank official said the lender apologized to customers and would make utmost efforts to prevent such an incident from happening again.
Woori Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank were said to have suffered similar hacking attacks, but no personal information was leaked because they blocked unauthorized access to their systems.
Earlier in the day, industry sources said customer information of KB Kookmin Bank had been breached following a similar incident at rival Shinhan Bank. According to the sources, personal data of more than 100 KB Kookmin Bank customers was stolen through hacking.
On Thursday, Shinhan Bank said personal information of around 25,000 customers, including annual income, names and phone numbers, had been leaked. Sources said Shinhan Bank was attacked by hackers currently suspected to be based overseas, who used advanced artificial intelligence tools.
A police division in charge of cyberterror response has begun a preliminary investigation into the spate of bank hacks, Yonhap News Agency learned.