Police assigned 28 investigators after breaches at several financial firms. President Lee Jae Myung said AI models appeared to have been used and called for new cyber defences.
South Korean police opened a full investigation on Tuesday into hacking attacks on financial institutions that investigators suspect were assisted by artificial intelligence. The Korea Herald said the Korean National Police Agency assigned 28 investigators in four teams from its cyberterrorism unit.
President Lee Jae Myung told a cabinet meeting that AI models were believed to have been used in some of the incidents and that the country should develop cybersecurity tools suited to the AI era. Reuters carried the same call.
By Sunday, the Herald reported breaches at Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana and BNK Busan banks, Yegaram and Welcome savings banks, and Hyundai Capital, with combined exposure put at about 66,000 people and 2,200 corporate records. Yonhap, citing industry sources, said Shinhan had reported personal data of about 25,000 customers leaked, including names, phone numbers and annual income, while Hana reported 89 customers affected. Woori and NH Nonghyup were targeted but blocked unauthorised access, Yonhap said.
The Financial Supervisory Service identified IP addresses linked to the attempts — 28 in the Herald’s account and 19 across 12 countries in Yonhap’s — and asked firms to finish internal checks. The two counts were not reconciled in the reports used here.
Police have not named suspects. Firms were asked to address weaknesses within days, and the presidential office has framed the case as a test of AI-era security rather than a closed investigation.
People Sentiments Negative
- Lee Jae Myung said it was time to overhaul security for the AI era.