President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday called for a thorough investigation into a series of hacking attacks that caused personal information leaks at major banks and other financial institutions.
Several financial firms suffered back-to-back leaks of customer information in recent hacking attacks, including Hana Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank.
"President Lee was briefed on the recent data breaches at financial and public institutions and the measures taken in response," presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a press release.
"He instructed authorities to take the matter seriously, conduct a thorough investigation and spare no effort in coming up with measures to address the issue," she added.
On Thursday, Shinhan Bank said personal information of around 25,000 customers, including their names, phone numbers and annual income, had been leaked. Sources said the bank was attacked by hackers who utilized advanced artificial intelligence tools.
Personal information of 89 customers was found to have been leaked from Hana Bank, while Woori Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank were also targeted in similar hacking attempts, though no personal information was leaked as the banks blocked unauthorized access to their systems.
Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eog-weon and Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, held an emergency meeting to discuss the issue with the heads of the affected firms.
"We have detected multiple security breaches across various sectors in a short span of time, not only at major commercial banks but also at savings banks and specialized credit finance firms," the FSC chief said at the meeting.
He said no sensitive information that could be used for unauthorized payments appeared to have been leaked so far but urged the financial sector to maintain the "highest level of vigilance," warning that the leaked information could still be exploited for voice phishing or other scams.
He also did not rule out the possibility that AI tools were used in the hacking attacks. (Yonhap)
