Five bank chiefs bow in apology over hacking... “We’ll expand security budgets and staffing, strengthen our AI response”

[Financial News] The heads of the country’s five major commercial banks have repeatedly bowed their heads in apology to customers and the public over recent hacking incidents in the financial sector.
The heads of the five major commercial banks appeared as witnesses at a parliamentary audit by the Political Affairs Committee at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 19th, and apologized to the public over the hacking incidents in the financial sector. They pledged to prevent a recurrence by expanding security budgets and staffing and strengthening AI-based response systems.
In response to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop’s criticism that “a very large amount of customer information was leaked in the hacking incident,” Shinhan Bank President Jeong Sang-hyeok said, “I feel deeply sorry.”
“This incident occurred at a financial institution, where trust should be fundamental,” said KB Kookmin Bank President Lee Hwan-ju. “I sincerely apologize for causing concern to our customers and the public.” He added, “To prevent a recurrence, we will secure sufficient budgets and staffing, and make efforts to build an AI security system by designing the security framework itself on the assumption that AI hacking will occur.”
“I am deeply sorry and regret causing concern to our customers and the public,” said Hana Bank President Lee Ho-sung. “We will expand our budgets and staffing further, equip ourselves with AI systems, and work to prevent a recurrence of damage in preparation for AI hacking.” Regarding compensation for damages, Lee added, “As an initial measure, we have already waived fees and taken other steps, and we will prevent secondary damage through financial safety insurance and other measures. So far there has been no damage, but if any occurs, I promise we will compensate for it in full.”
The heads of Woori Bank and NH NongHyup Bank, which fended off hacking attacks, also said they would put more rigorous security systems in place.
“I think we escaped hacking damage this time simply because we were lucky,” said Woori Bank President Jeong Jin-wan. “We are receiving around 200 or more hacking attacks a day.” He added, “Our employees are responding, but their efforts may fall somewhat short. We will do our utmost to maintain the financial security system in cooperation with supervisory authorities and the Korea Financial Security Institute, among others, to ensure there is no damage.”
“We will do everything possible to upgrade the next-generation integrated monitoring system built in 2022 this year and next year as well, so that it can be managed rigorously,” said NH NongHyup Bank President Kang Tae-young.
Meanwhile, an incident occurred at Shinhan Bank in which personal information belonging to approximately 25,000 customers was leaked by an external attacker. The leaked data included customers’ names, phone numbers, and annual incomes, among other details. External hacking led to the leakage of personal information belonging to 119 KB Kookmin Bank customers, while an incident at Hana Bank also exposed customer information belonging to 89 people.
[email protected] Lee Hyun-jung Reporter