78 Ransomware Attacks in South Korea in First Half of Year
More Than Double the Total in 2019
Companies Also Making Voluntary Efforts to Prevent Hacking
Objective Inspections by Third Parties Essential
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The number of participants in the government's cyber crisis response simulation training has exceeded 98,000, more than doubling compared to the previous year. As recent threatening ransomware attacks have surged, the industry, centered on large corporations, has also begun to prepare self-help measures.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 6th the results of the first half cyber crisis response simulation training conducted together with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). The training involved white-hat hackers probing companies' vulnerabilities, with companies responding accordingly, and was held over two weeks starting May 17 this year.
In the training for response to simulated DDoS attacks, large corporations showed an average DDoS attack detection time of 3 minutes and response time of 19 minutes, demonstrating higher response capability compared to small and medium enterprises, which had an average detection time of 9 minutes and response time of 22 minutes.
As a result of simulated penetration testing on companies' information systems, 114 vulnerabilities were identified across the websites of 30 companies. In the simulated penetration testing targeting cloud service providers, the Ministry of Science and ICT reported that providers with cloud security certification showed higher detection and defense rates compared to uncertified providers.
Voluntary participation by companies has increased. A total of 230 companies participated in the simulation training, nearly three times more than last year (81 companies). The number of participating employees also exceeded 98,600, more than double the previous year's approximately 43,300.
The Ministry of Science and ICT emphasized, "Most ransomware incidents occur because users do not follow general security guidelines," adding, "It is urgently necessary to raise user security awareness."
In the second half of this year, the Ministry plans to develop specialized simulation training in response to the surge in ransomware and conduct the training in October. Ransomware attacks increased by 225%, from 39 cases in 2019 to 127 cases last year, with 78 cases occurring in the first half of this year alone.
Hong Jin-bae, Director of the Information Security Network Policy Division, stated, "Cyber threats such as hacking emails with malicious code attachments and ransomware attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in information systems are rapidly increasing both domestically and internationally," urging, "We ask companies to exercise special caution and actively participate in government simulation training to enhance their cyber threat response capabilities."
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