The Three Major Telecom Companies Spent 202.7 Billion KRW on Security Last Year... 5% Increase from Previous Year

Last year, the three major telecommunications companies?SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus?invested 202.7 billion KRW in the information security sector. This represents a 5% increase compared to 2021.

According to the comprehensive information security disclosure portal on the 4th, KT invested the most with 103.5 billion KRW, followed by SKT (55 billion KRW) and LG Uplus (44.2 billion KRW). KT's investment in information security is even larger than the combined amount of SKT and LG Uplus.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Compared to 2021, KT increased its investment by 1.3%, and LG Uplus by 51.6%. SKT, however, decreased its investment by 12.2%, which is attributed to the spin-off of SK Square in November 2021. During the same period, SKT's total information technology (IT) investment also dropped by 14.4%.

When comparing investments in the information technology sector and the information security sector, KT ranks first, accounting for 5.4% of its total IT investment. LG Uplus follows with 5%, and SKT with 3.8%. When compared to last year’s revenue, KT was the most proactive in investing in information security, allocating 0.4% of its total revenue to the sector, while SKT and LG Uplus invested 0.32% of their revenues.

Regarding dedicated information security personnel (both internal and outsourced), LG Uplus had the fewest. KT had the most with 303.8 employees, followed by SKT with 197.4 employees, and LG Uplus with 117.3 employees. The ratio of dedicated information security personnel to IT personnel was highest at SKT with 7.4%, followed by KT at 6.6%, and LG Uplus at the lowest with 3.4%.

Investments in information security by telecommunications companies are expected to continue increasing. Earlier this year, LG Uplus experienced a series of security incidents, including personal information leaks and two DDoS attacks causing service disruptions, which heightened the telecommunications industry's awareness of security.

At that time, the joint public-private investigation team pointed out the lack of specialized security personnel and relatively low investment in information security compared to other telecom companies as causes of the incidents. In response, LG Uplus announced plans to expand its information security personnel and investment costs to levels comparable to other companies. They plan to increase their annual information security investment to around 100 billion KRW. They are also actively recruiting personnel. Last month, they hired Hong Kwanhee as their Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), a cybersecurity expert. To foster practical talent, LG Uplus established a new information security department at Soongsil University as a contract-based program linked to recruitment.