Exclusive: Security Lapse at NEC: 14 Access Cards to Core Facility Unaccounted For

[Anchor]

The National Election Commission (NEC), which previously faced public backlash over a shortage of ballot papers, has now been found to have lax security management at its core computing center. It has been confirmed that 14 visitor access cards were not returned, and these cards remained functional until the NEC belatedly discovered the oversight and revoked their access privileges.

Son Hyeong-an reports.

[Reporter]

The National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, was designated as a "Grade A" national critical facility—the highest security level—on December 10 of last year.

The computing center, which houses the election information system, is located on the second floor of the building.

This is the list of "unreturned visitor access cards for the NEC computing center" obtained by SBS through the National Assembly.

On December 31 of last year, the NEC deactivated the access privileges for 10 "computing center visitor access cards," including serial numbers 48 and 49.

These cards had been issued primarily to external contractors since October of last year. The NEC belatedly blocked their access after realizing that the cards had not been returned even after the authorized access period had expired.

It was also revealed that the cards in question were configured to allow access even into this year.

Because the access privileges remained active until the NEC finally realized they had not been returned, it effectively means there was a hole in their security.

There is no basic information, such as the names of the recipients, recorded in the computer system, and the handwritten visitor logs are also inaccurate, making it currently impossible to determine to whom the cards were issued or for what duration.

Furthermore, the NEC admitted that in addition to the 10 cards deactivated late last year, the whereabouts of one card issued this year and three spare cards are also unknown.

In total, 14 visitor access cards to the computing center remain unaccounted for.

The NEC explained, however, that visitor access cards do not allow access to core internal facilities such as server rooms, and that accessing the election information system requires separate authentication by logging into the security system from a PC terminal.

An internal NEC source who spoke to SBS in a written interview stated, "Even though access cards were not returned, they kept issuing new ones, almost like rotating cards," adding, "They couldn't even properly manage access to the building."

[Lee Man-hee / People Power Party Lawmaker: It is truly deplorable that access cards for the computing center were not properly managed and that multiple instances of loss occurred. I believe institutional improvements are absolutely necessary.]

The National Election Commission acknowledged its "negligence in access card management" and stated, "Moving forward, we will verify the issuance status on a weekly and monthly basis and strengthen security for access to the computing center."

(Video coverage: Shin Dong-hwan, Kim Nam-seong | Video editing: Oh Young-taek | Design: Jegal Chan, Jang Chae-woo | Data provided by the office of Rep. Lee Man-hee of the People Power Party)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.