Opposition urges pan-government probe into wave of hacking at South Korean banks
In short
South Korea's opposition People Power Party on Oct. 4 demanded a pan-government joint investigation team into successive hacking attacks on banks and other financial firms. Chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon named Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana, BNK Busan Bank, Yegaram Savings Bank and Hyundai Capital, said the backers could not yet be determined, and cited past North Korea-linked cyberattacks. The party also criticised the financial authorities' response as belated and said it would press the issue during the parliamentary audit.
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South Korea's main opposition People Power Party called on Oct. 4 for a pan-government joint investigation team to look into successive hacking attacks on banks and other financial companies. Party chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon said in a commentary that Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana and BNK Busan banks, followed by Yegaram Savings Bank and Hyundai Capital, had been “breached one after another” among commercial banks and secondary financial institutions. Choi said the team should be launched immediately with the participation of the police security investigation bureau, the National Intelligence Service and military intelligence agencies. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Choi said the backers of the attacks could not be determined at this point, but pointed to past incidents: the 2011 cyber terror he described as North Korea's, which paralysed NongHyup's computer network, and the March 20, 2013 cyber terror, when the networks of financial companies including Shinhan Bank and NongHyup and of broadcasters stopped simultaneously on the same day. “Security is not breached only at the muzzle of a gun. It is also breached at bank servers,” he said. [ 1 , 2 ]
The party also criticised the government's handling. Choi said the authorities had planned to receive each financial company's own inspection results after the holiday, then moved an inspection meeting up to Oct. 4 as damage kept emerging and unease spread, calling the response “not defense but hindsight.” Party spokesperson Cho Yong-sool said AI attacks are evolving at the speed of light while the Lee Jae-myung administration's response remains at an analog level. [ 1 , 2 ]
Party chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said the previous day that before worrying about cutting-edge AI hacking, one had to ask whether the basic doors of the financial sector had been properly locked. He said the party would use the parliamentary audit to ask who missed the warning signs, why several financial companies were exposed to attacks at the same time and whether financial authorities' supervision had worked. Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun said on Facebook that if the management of systems handling customers' sensitive information had been relatively neglected, the responsibility of financial companies' executives should be strictly established, along with corporate management responsibility and the authorities' supervisory responsibility. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
The cases involve commercial banks and secondary lenders, so how well financial institutions' systems and regulators' supervision work is at the centre of the dispute. The opposition says it will press financial authorities during the parliamentary audit, making the hacking cases a political test of the government's response. Choi raised the possibility of North Korean involvement, which the documents do not confirm.
Key facts
- The People Power Party urged the immediate launch of a pan-government joint investigation team into successive hacking attacks on banks and other financial companies. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Party chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon named Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana, BNK Busan Bank, Yegaram Savings Bank and Hyundai Capital as institutions that were hit. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Choi said the backers of the attacks could not be determined at this point and cited the 2011 cyber terror that paralysed NongHyup's network and the March 20, 2013 cyber terror as precedents. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Choi called for the police security investigation bureau, the National Intelligence Service and military intelligence agencies to take part in the joint team. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Choi said the authorities had planned to receive each financial company's own inspection results after the holiday. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Choi called the government response “not defense but hindsight,” and party spokesperson Cho Yong-sool said AI attacks are evolving at the speed of light while the Lee Jae-myung administration's response remains at an analog level. [ 2 ]
- Party chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said the party would question during the parliamentary audit who missed the warning signs, why several financial companies were exposed to attacks at the same time and whether financial authorities' supervision worked. [ 2 ]
- Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun said that if systems handling customers' sensitive information were relatively neglected, financial companies' executives should be held strictly responsible along with the authorities' supervisory responsibility. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The People Power Party publicly demanded a pan-government joint investigation team over the financial sector hacking incidents. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Party chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon made the demand in a commentary on Oct. 4. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Choi named Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana, BNK Busan Bank, Yegaram Savings Bank and Hyundai Capital as institutions that had been hacked. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Choi said the backers of the hacking attacks could not be determined at this point. [ 1 , 2 ]
Still unclear
- Who carried out the hacking attacks. The party's chief spokesperson said the backers could not be determined now; no document names an attacker or cites an investigating body's findings.
- Whether the banks and financial authorities confirmed the breaches. The lists of affected institutions come from the opposition party's spokesperson; no document cites the companies or regulators confirming them.
- The scope of damage, affected systems and any customer data involved. The documents do not describe what systems or data were affected or the size of losses.
- Whether a pan-government joint investigation team will be formed, and the result of the financial authorities' inspection meeting. Only the opposition's demand and its account of the authorities' schedule appear; the report that an inspection meeting was moved up to Oct. 4 comes from a single outlet.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Dong-A Ilbo reports that the People Power Party demanded a pan-government joint investigation team over successive hacking attacks on the financial sector. [ 1 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily publishes the party's demands in detail, including criticism of the authorities' response and plans to raise the issue at the parliamentary audit. [ 2 ]
- Newsis reports the party's call for a pan-government joint investigation team. [ 3 ]