South Korea to Strengthen Cybersecurity Regulations for Financial Institutions After 130 Firms Found Vulnerable

ChainCatcher report: The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea announced plans to impose stricter cybersecurity requirements on financial institutions following an investigation into 16 companies, including cryptocurrency exchanges, involved in prior security incidents. The agency stated that during an industry-wide review of 555 financial firms, 130 were found to have cybersecurity vulnerabilities, resulting in the exposure of approximately 100,000 customer records containing names, contact details, and identification numbers. Affected companies include Streami, operator of Gopax, and the cryptocurrency trading platform Prabang, which previously disclosed a hack on October 2 that led to the leakage of certain customer personal information. The FSC is still investigating whether artificial intelligence was involved in these incidents or whether they were carried out by the same group of attackers. Under the proposed reforms, larger financial institutions would be required to undergo at least two vulnerability assessments annually. Regulators also plan to enhance information-sharing systems and are considering the use of artificial intelligence for security monitoring in small businesses. Additionally, the FSC is considering allowing additional cybersecurity inspections outside the regular assessment schedule in the event of an urgent threat, to prevent similar incidents in the future.