South Korean police have launched an investigation into a series of cyberattacks targeting the country’s financial sector, amid concerns that artificial intelligence may have been used to facilitate the breaches.
More than seven financial institutions, including some of the country’s largest banks, reported customer data breaches over the past week, according to authorities.
President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that there were indications AI had been used in some of the attacks, raising concerns about the growing accessibility of sophisticated hacking tools.
“There are signs that artificial intelligence was used in some hacking attacks, causing considerable concern and anxiety among the public,” Lee told a cabinet meeting.
“We have now reached a point where AI can make (hacking) easy for even those without special skills,” he added.
The Financial Services Commission said more than 68,000 people had been affected by the breaches.
Shinhan Bank, one of the affected institutions, said information submitted by about 25,000 loan applicants had been leaked. The data included customers’ names, telephone numbers and annual incomes.
Lee said advances in AI were making hacking methods increasingly sophisticated and expanding the scale of potential damage.
“The government, companies and our society as a whole need to recognise the seriousness of the current situation and remain particularly vigilant,” he said.
Police said they began an investigation Tuesday following the president’s directive.
A government official told AFP that it was “highly likely” an open-source security testing tool known as Artex AI, believed to be a Chinese AI system, was used in the attacks.
However, officials cautioned that the possible use of the tool did not establish that the attacks were carried out by Chinese actors.
“Attackers can move between and use IP addresses in multiple locations, so it is impossible to identify an attacker based on an IP address alone,” Park Sang-won, head of the Financial Security Institute, told reporters.
An IP address is a unique number assigned to a particular internet connection.
Meanwhile, at least three companies in Japan have reported data leaks in recent days, while 10 others said their data may have been compromised following unauthorised access to servers and websites.
Major car-sharing company Times Car reported that data from about 6.6 million accounts had been leaked, while a Japanese barbecue restaurant chain said personal information belonging to more than 10 million app users had been compromised.
