Finding Vulnerabilities and Attacking Rapidly... Are My Information and Assets Safe?

[Anchor]

This recent hacking attack is presumed to have been carried out simultaneously against multiple financial companies using AI tools. This is because AI can automate vulnerability scanning and attacks much faster than human hackers. New security countermeasures to block this are urgently needed.

Next, we will look at the report by Reporter Hong Yeongjae and delve deeper into some questions you might have.

[Reporter]

This is an AI tool called "Artex" uploaded to a platform where developers share code and work details.

The description in Chinese labels it as an "AI autonomous penetration testing system."

It is originally an AI program developed to perform mock hacking that autonomously finds vulnerabilities in systems.

A domestic security company analyzed a server webpage suspected of being used in this financial sector hacking incident and stated that the phrase "Artex" was identified in the attack traces.

[Moon Jong-hyun / Center Director, Genians Security Center: If someone uses this for actual attacks rather than real penetration testing, it's a tool with enough impact to be deployed immediately in real attacks.]

A more accurate investigation is still needed to determine whether AI tools such as Artex were actually utilized in the hacking.

However, the government acknowledged this possibility because a large volume of automated attacks was carried out simultaneously against multiple financial companies in this attack.

The biggest advantage of utilizing AI tools as hacking weapons is "speed."

AI can discover in a short time internet-connected equipment, software types, and even vulnerabilities that hackers previously had to search for one by one.

Experts point out that a comprehensive inspection should be conducted not only on core financial networks with relatively high security levels, but also on areas that have previously fallen behind in management priority, such as employee mobile terminals or external systems used by loan recruiters.

[SEUNGJOO / Professor, Graduate School of Information Security, Korea University: Finding out how many PCs we actually have, what operating systems and software are installed on them, how many of those are connected to the internet, and so forth is called a complete asset survey, and that is the most urgent task.]

They also advise that since various AI hacking tools besides Artex have already been made public and hacking performance can increase as AI models become more sophisticated, security countermeasures should not stop at blocking just one specific AI tool.

[Anchor]

Reporter Hong Yeongjae, who covered this story, is here in the studio.

Q. Work of an 'AI Hacker'?

[Reporter Hong Yeongjae: Hacking attacks suspected of utilizing AI have already been reported overseas several times, and evaluations suggest that the threat of AI hacking has surfaced in earnest in South Korea as well, triggered by this financial sector incident. There are several reasons why financial authorities suspect that AI tools were utilized in the hacking. While past methods often involved infiltrating a specific company's server and plundering databases all at once to steal massive amounts of information, this time, multiple financial companies were attacked simultaneously, scraping information by finding relatively vulnerable points exposed to the outside in each company. The frequency and method of the attacks, as well as the traces left by the attacker—namely the phrase indicating the AI tool Artex—are points that raise suspicion about the use of AI.]

Q. Resolved by 'Relaxing Network Separation Regulations'?

[Reporter Hong Yeongjae: Currently, financial companies are subject to so-called network separation regulations that isolate internal computer networks from the internet. However, much of the recent AI security technology can only be utilized when connected to external clouds or AI models. If network separation is too strict, it can create constraints on introducing security technologies that allow AI to analyze numerous attack attempts in real time to detect and block abnormal signs. Therefore, the government intends to ease network separation regulations so that AI security technologies can be utilized, but concerns are also being raised that lifting network separation could increase external connection points themselves, creating new attack passages.]

Q. Are My Information and Assets Safe?

[Reporter Hong Yeongjae: The government has stated that so far, the core financial service security, such as internet and mobile banking, has not been directly breached by this incident, and there have been no cases of financial damage. However, sensitive personal information such as names and mobile phone numbers has been leaked, and since there is a possibility that this information could be misused for secondary crimes such as voice phishing or smishing, it is not a situation where we can feel at ease.]

(Photo: Kim Seung-tae, Video Editing: Lee So-young, Design: Im Chan-hyuk)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.