Increased threat of hacking using AI... There is an urgent need for security checks in public institutions beyond the financial sector.

Even a weak hole is more likely to cause problems than the strongest castle wall.

AI security checks at public institutions beyond the financial sector must be significantly strengthened.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Senior Reporter Han Seung-ho = With the advent of the artificial intelligence (AI) era, people's lives are changing. I was able to do things that I thought were difficult or took too much time and that I couldn't even think about doing. The problem is that AI does not hesitate to do things it should not do.

Recently, hacking incidents occurred at seven companies, including Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana, BNK Busan Bank, Yegaram, Welcome Savings Bank, and Hyundai Capital. PFCT Technologies (PFCT) and Mouda, online investment finance companies (On2Up), were also breached.

It is serious in that part of the business system of a bank, which has a reputation for having a superior security system compared to other industries, was breached. Moreover, damage occurred even though the financial authorities issued a prior warning in July through the ‘Frontier AI Security Threats Financial Sector Response Guidelines’ guidelines.

Even though AI emphasized the need to accurately identify and manage assets and supply chains, citing its ability to quickly detect financial company security attack points, it could not be prevented. Hackers targeted security vulnerabilities such as the loan quotation inquiry service, mobile business support system for employees, and sales support system.

The leaked information disclosed so far includes customer names, dates of birth, contact information, and resident registration numbers. Although it is said that this information is not sufficient to enable financial institutions to immediately make fraudulent payments, there is still a possibility that combining pieces of personal information leaked from different sources may lead to secondary damage such as customized phishing.

It is worth noting that AI appears to have been used to find loopholes in financial institutions, as was feared in this hacking attack. There is a possibility that AI tools were used to automatically detect vulnerabilities and repeat attacks.

The negative function of AI that helps commit crimes is being revealed. Concerns that AI may go beyond the level of a model that simply assists tasks and enter a stage where the firewall of software becomes ineffective are becoming a reality.

What will be the next target of hacking crimes armed with increasingly sophisticated AI? Experts are warning that it may be a public institution where personal information is concentrated, or it may be a core infrastructure such as medicine, communications, energy, and transportation that, once paralyzed, will shake the people's daily lives.

There have already been cases of public institutions being hacked overseas. Last August, the French tax authority, the Directorate General of Public Finance (DGFiP), suffered a hacking attack and hundreds of thousands of personal and corporate data were stolen. Foreign media reported that the real estate cadastral information database was also attacked separately.

No matter how solid the security system is, if there are gaps due to neglect of management, vulnerabilities in the entire security system can be revealed. The weakest hole is more likely to cause problems than the strongest castle wall. The security of public institutions, where the victims can be the majority of the public, cannot be overemphasized.

As AI is being used in criminal attacks, a defense system using AI must be established. There is a need for constant defense simulation against attack points that AI can find. Beyond the financial sector, inspections of the AI ​​security systems of public institutions must be significantly strengthened to prevent fatal damage.