Banks’ information security budgets this year: Kookmin, Hana and NongHyup increase spending; Shinhan and Woori cut it

[Financial News] KB Kookmin Bank, Hana Bank and NH NongHyup Bank increased their information security budgets compared with last year, while Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank cut theirs. At the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, concerns were raised that banks should respond to cyberattacks themselves.
According to data submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 16th to Rep. Park Dae-chul of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, Kookmin Bank had the largest information security-related budget among the five major banks this year, at 86.075 billion won. NongHyup Bank ranked second, with 80.134 billion won. They were followed by Hana Bank (63.635 billion won) and Woori Bank (61.566 billion won).
Hana Bank had the highest share of its total information technology (IT) budget allocated to information security, at 12.2%. It was followed by NongHyup Bank (10.5%), Kookmin Bank and Woori Bank (9.9%), and Shinhan Bank (9.1%).
Compared with last year, the information security budgets of Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank fell by double-digit percentages. Shinhan Bank’s budget was 40.591 billion won, down about 10.4% from 45.294 billion won last year, while Woori Bank’s budget plunged 21.7% to 61.566 billion won from 78.659 billion won last year.
Rep. Park Dae-chul pointed out, “The share of IT spending allocated to information security by companies and financial institutions does not appear to be high enough,” adding, “It will be difficult to provide the personal information protection environment required in the 21st century with only after-the-fact sanctions and outdated regulations against hacking that grows more sophisticated by the day.” He went on to say, “We should use policy measures to create an environment in which companies are willing to pay for IT and information security themselves.”
[email protected] Park Moon-soo Reporter