Hacking Incidents Triple in Three Years... Insufficient Training of Information Security Personnel

"Yoon Administration Focuses Only on Quantitative Growth of Cyber Professionals"

While the number of hacking incidents has increased nearly threefold over the past three years, there are criticisms that efforts to train personnel to respond to these incidents have been insufficient.

According to data submitted by Assemblyman Kim Wooyoung of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee, from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the number of hacking incidents rose from 640 in 2021 to 1,887 in 2024, nearly tripling.

In particular, at the end of 2023, the Onnara System, a core government administrative platform, was exposed to hacking risks, putting reports and meeting materials at risk of being leaked.

Regarding this, Assemblyman Kim criticized KISA for failing to adequately respond to large-scale hacking incidents, and above all, he pointed out that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's national agenda to train 100,000 cyber professionals over five years from 2022 focused only on quantitative growth.

He also highlighted the lack of a government-level management system for information security personnel. Assemblyman Kim stated that, according to an industry field survey, low wage levels (48.4%), poor working conditions (40.3%), company size limitations (37.7%), and other factors (15.2%) were reasons why information security professionals are unable to settle in the field.

While the United States and Europe have established information security personnel databases and career management systems, South Korea does not operate such systems.

Assemblyman Kim stated, "The Yoon administration's plan to train 100,000 cyber professionals is nothing more than a numbers game," adding, "Simply increasing the number of personnel cannot address the increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. The Ministry of Science and ICT must fundamentally improve the management and treatment of information security personnel."

He further emphasized, "To prevent the rapidly increasing hacking incidents, a national-level management system for information security professionals, as seen in the United States and Europe, must be implemented, and wage, working, and promotion systems must be improved."