Lee Chanjin Inspects Financial Sector Penetration Testing Site: "CEOs Must Expand Security Investments"

Inspection of Blind Penetration Testing Progress
Emphasis on Proactive Response to Cyber Threats Amid AI Expansion

Lee Chan-jin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, visited the site of the first half 2026 blind penetration testing exercise for the financial sector to directly inspect the cyber security readiness of financial institutions. This initiative aims to strengthen the security capabilities of financial firm management and encourage active investment in security in response to a series of security incidents in the financial sector since last year and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats due to advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Lee Chan-jin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (third from the left), visited the Financial Security Monitoring Center of the Financial Security Institute on the 12th to check the progress of the "2026 First Half Financial Sector Blind Penetration Testing Exercise." Provided by the Financial Supervisory Service

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on June 14, Governor Lee visited the Financial Security Monitoring Center of the Financial Security Institute in Jukjeon, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on June 12 to check the progress of the "2026 First Half Financial Sector Blind Penetration Testing Exercise." Following his direct supervision of an internal security exercise at the Financial Supervisory Service in May, he visited the site to assess the overall security response capacity across the financial sector.

This exercise is designed to test the hacking detection and defense capabilities, as well as the emergency response systems of financial companies, by having white-hat hackers launch surprise attacks without prior notice of the timing or target. This year, the number of participating institutions has doubled from last year to 40, and the frequency of the exercise has increased from once a year to twice a year—once in each half.

At the site, Governor Lee received briefings on the current status of financial sector security monitoring and the progress of the exercise, and reviewed the response processes of financial companies to major cyber threats through distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, server hacking, and simulated penetration exercises. He also focused specifically on how financial companies are responding to new types of cyber threats arising from the proliferation of AI services.

Governor Lee emphasized, "In an environment where digital finance is widespread, cyber security is a critical management risk directly tied to stable operations and consumer trust for financial companies. CEOs and management teams must take the lead in ensuring that incident response systems function effectively in real crisis situations by checking them in person at the front lines, and by actively expanding related budgets, personnel, and organizations to ensure sufficient security capabilities." He added, "With the emergence of high-performance AI such as Mythos, cyber attack techniques are rapidly evolving, and previously hidden security vulnerabilities are becoming easily exposed. It is essential to proactively address these risks by inspecting and remedying vulnerabilities, setting priorities for security patches, and reviewing emergency response plans."

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to require financial companies to immediately address vulnerabilities identified during this exercise and will share common vulnerabilities and areas for improvement across the financial sector to enhance overall cyber threat response capabilities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.