By Cho Mu-hyun
Though the growth of the Internet has given consumers access to unprecedented amounts of information almost anywhere, thanks additionally to smart devices, it has also raised concerns about the safety of personal data.
A recent attack by hackers against mobile carrier KT, which caused the information of 8.7 million people to be leaked, has companies scrabbling to boost the safety of user information.
As all three carriers are preparing to start their “All-IP” services, which will connect all Internet protocol services used on different devices to one, they are taking extra efforts to prevent possible threats to security.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), who is investigating the case involving KT, met with officials of the company following the event and has asked them to strengthen their online defenses.
According to domestic computer vaccine maker AhnLab, large events, such as the ongoing London Olympics, are the most opportune times for hackers to launch an attack due to the attention they receive.
The methods adopted to penetrate systems are becoming more diverse: distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and advance persistent threat (APT) are some of the techniques used that grab global headlines.
KT, which apologized for the leak, is in the process of acquiring a wireless network address transfer system to prevent further losses of information.
SK Telecom has a divergence system against DDoS attacks and an intrusion detection system already in place.
LG Uplus, to protect consumers, only allows registered IPs to access personal information. It also runs a 64-digit random number generator in cross access between PCs and servers.
“It is deeply unfortunate that such a thing has happened. Though companies take every measure to prevent information being leaked, the advancement of technology has also caused an immense surge in the ways hackers organize and attack them. There are limits to what they can do,” said an industry official on condition of anonymity.
AhnLab chose three prevalent attack trends that happened in the domestic market in the first half of the year. The three were APT attacks with the objective of leaking information, the emergence of phishing websites that target personal computers and mobile devices, and malicious codes that aim at applications through different channels.
“Hacking and malicious codes result in serious crimes. Companies need to thoroughly manage personal and secret information,” said Lee Ho-woong, head of AhnLab’s security emergency response center. “An effort to create a safe information technology environment is needed.”
The company reported 9,893 incidents involving malicious codes for mobile devices in the first quarter of the year. For the fourth quarter last year there were 4,258 while for the third quarter there were only 341.