Global Hacking Surge... Ministry of Science and ICT Launches Public-Private Cybersecurity Forum

Zero Trust and Supply Chain Security Concepts
Applied to Industrial Sites... "Final Goal is National Standardization"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] Amid the growing global hacking issues, the government has launched a public-private joint participation forum focused on ‘Zero Trust’ and ‘Supply Chain Security,’ which are gaining attention as new security frameworks.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) announced that on the 26th at 2 p.m., they held the ‘Zero Trust and Supply Chain Security Forum Launch Ceremony’ at the VOCO Seoul Gangnam Hotel.

Zero Trust is a cybersecurity model based on the premise of ‘trusting nothing,’ thoroughly verifying the access of users or devices, and granting only the minimum necessary permissions even after verification.

Supply Chain Security refers to inspecting vulnerabilities and managing security for resources and processes involved in all stages of software (SW) product development, operation, and maintenance before supply.

The forum included demand and supply companies such as NCSoft, SGA Solutions, Genians, and LG Electronics, as well as related organizations including KISA, the Korea Information and Communications Technology Association, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, the National Security Research Institute, the Nuclear Control Technology Institute, the Financial Information Systems Research Association, the Korea Incident Response Team Coordination Center, and the CISO Council.

Experts emphasized that for Zero Trust and Supply Chain Security to be applied in Korea’s industrial sites, it is not enough to just present guidelines; rather, through public-private cooperation, cases must be discovered to apply and verify them on-site, leading to a national-level strategy.

The forum is composed of an operating committee and four subcommittees: two for Zero Trust and two for Supply Chain Security. Each subcommittee sets security-related issues as policy tasks from the perspectives of policy and system, technology and standards, and industry, and conducts related technology development research. Verification will be conducted through demonstration projects, and ultimately, the goal is to promote national standardization.

Park Yoon-kyu, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "We plan to systematically apply Zero Trust and Supply Chain Security across private and public sectors, manufacturing, finance, and telecommunications, and to develop related technologies and solutions and prepare support measures. We will strive to make this new security paradigm the standard for the digital order."