South Korea plans cybersecurity overhaul after attacks hit banks, crypto firms

South Korea is planning tighter cybersecurity requirements for financial institutions after an investigation into earlier security incidents involving 16 companies, including crypto exchanges.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it would pursue improved threat monitoring, more frequent security assessments and stronger accountability for executives after an industry-wide review found cybersecurity deficiencies at 130 of 555 financial companies.

The FSC said about 100,000 pieces of customer information had been exposed across the affected firms, including names, contact details and identification numbers.

The affected firms include Gopax operator Streami and crypto trading platform Prabang, which previously disclosed that an Oct. 2 hack exposed personal info of some customers.

Under the proposed reforms, larger financial institutions would undergo vulnerability assessments at least twice every year. The regulator also plans to enhance information-sharing systems and is considering artificial intelligence use in security monitoring for smaller companies.

The regulator is also considering allowing additional cybersecurity inspections outside regular assessment schedules when urgent threats emerge, as part of efforts to prevent future incidents.

The FSC said they are still investigating whether the incidents involved AI use or were linked to the same attackers.