Samsung's Response to 'USIM Anxiety': "Subscribe to the USIM Protection Service"

'USIM Change' Effect Achieved by Simply Subscribing to the Service
SIM Swapping Prevention Feature... Enhanced Security Level
Government and Private Investigators Also Say "Cloned Phones Can Be Blocked"

As excessive anxiety spreads in relation to the SK Telecom server hacking incident, major business groups including Samsung Group have begun encouraging employees to subscribe to the 'USIM Protection Service.'

According to business circles on May 1, Samsung Group has guided SK Telecom subscribers among its employees to first subscribe to the USIM Protection Service. The United States Forces Korea (USFK) is also actively promoting the USIM Protection Service. The USIM Protection Service is a technology that links the subscriber's USIM, which contains line information, with a mobile device, making it impossible to use the phone if the USIM is inserted into another device. By subscribing to the service, it is considered to provide a security effect equivalent to changing the USIM itself.

Yoo Sangkim, Minister of Science and ICT, stated at a National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee hearing the previous day (April 30), "I have subscribed to the USIM Protection Service without changing my USIM," adding, "I trust the USIM Protection Service in my own way." At the 'Pan-Ministerial Technology Commercialization Declaration Ceremony' held before the hearing, he also explained, "As long as you subscribe to the USIM Protection Service, you are 100% safe for now."

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on April 29, during the first joint public-private investigation results on the SK Telecom hacking, "If you subscribe to the USIM Protection Service currently implemented by SK Telecom, SIM swapping, which involves cloning the leaked USIM information and inserting it into another phone for illegal activities, can be prevented."

Meanwhile, SK Telecom explained its security measures through its newsroom homepage on the morning of the previous day, stating, "The USIM Protection Service is a security device with the same effect as changing the USIM," and added, "Through the 'Abnormal Authentication Blocking System,' USIM cloning and mobile phone theft are blocked." Regarding the situation in which overseas roaming is blocked when subscribing to the USIM Protection Service, SK Telecom announced that it will enhance its technology to resolve the issue around May 14.