Trillion-unit security investment declaration without carrier 'kernels'

Since the SK Telecom (CEO Yoo Young-sang) scandal in which the USIM information of 27 million subscribers was hacked, telecommunication companies have declared investment in the area of security, calling for information protection and personal information protection. However, there are no specific guidelines at this time. This is why some in the industry are concerned that the situation is nothing more than an empty talk.

According to the industry sources on Sunday, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced its plan to expand investment in private information protection after the announcement of the SK Telecom hacking incident on July 4. In response, SK Telecom, KT (CEO Kim Young-sup) and LG Uplus (CEO Hong Bum-sik) all recently announced that they will expand investment in security in line with the government's commitment.

According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency's (KISA) announcement in June this year, KT had the largest investment of 125 billion won, followed by LG U+ with 82.8 billion won and SK Telecom with 65.2 billion won. However, if SK Broadband shares are added together, SK Telecom's investment will increase to 93.3 billion won. However, considering that KT posted 26.4312 trillion won in consolidated sales, SK Telecom 17.94 trillion won, and LG Uplus 14.62 trillion won last year, it is pointed out that the amount of security investment compared to sales is too small.

SK Telecom recently announced its "Information Protection Innovation Plan," which calls for establishing a world-class information protection system by aggressive investment worth 700 billion won (700 million U.S. dollars) over the next five years, along with various measures to strengthen information protection. KT has also announced its plan to innovate its information protection system so that customers can enjoy comfortable communication life by investing more than 1 trillion won (982 million dollars) in in information protection over the next five years. LG Uplus also plans to invest more than 100 billion won (98 million dollars) in security every year after the hacking incident in 2023. Industry sources estimate that LG Uplus will also invest about 700 billion won (98 million dollars) over the next five years.

However, none of the three telecom service providers has drawn a detailed picture of how much and what areas of security they will invest in in the future. "We haven't made any concrete plans on how to invest," a source at the service said. Another source also said, "We will be able to find out where and how we will spend our money in detail with time."

Some in the industry are criticizing this. "There have been calls for strengthening security areas before, but there have been many cases where money from the left pocket comes into the right pocket," said a security professor who asked not to be named. "For example, security affiliates can be actively used for investment. We need to check that part."

An industry official said, "As we have revealed the total amount of security investment, we will have some detailed investment plans," adding, "Only when more specific plans are revealed can the sincerity of the security investment be strengthened."

fun3503@chosunbiz.com