LG Uplus Allocated 7.7% of IT Investment to Security: "Information Security Is an Investment, Not a Cost"

Highest Proportion Among the Three Major Mobile Carriers

The three major mobile carriers are working to restore consumer trust by significantly increasing their investments in information security following last year’s hacking incidents. Each carrier's spending on information security accounted for just over 7% of their total information technology (IT) investment, indicating a gradual trend toward expanding security investments.

According to information security disclosures from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) on July 9, LG Uplus invested KRW 96.6 billion in information security last year, representing 7.7% of its total IT investment—the highest proportion among the three carriers. The share of information security investment in total IT investments by the three carriers rose from 5.8% in 2024 to about 6.8% last year.

SK Telecom, the top mobile carrier, together with its subsidiary SK Broadband (SKB), recorded a combined information security investment of KRW 143.4 billion last year, the largest among the three carriers. However, the proportion was 6.7%, lower than LG Uplus. Since SK Telecom operates its wired business separately through SKB, the information security investments of the two companies are combined for calculation.

KT invested KRW 127.5 billion in information security last year, which accounted for about 6.3% of its total IT investment of KRW 2.0215 trillion, the lowest among the three carriers.

The information security industry is paying close attention to the proportion of information security investment by mobile carriers. As IT investment increases rapidly due to the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), the carriers’ increased focus on information security investment is evidence that they are placing greater emphasis on security within their overall investment portfolios than in the past.

In particular, the combined information security investment of SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus last year reached KRW 367.5 billion, up about 22.0% from KRW 301.2 billion in 2024. A representative from the mobile telecommunications industry said, “While the overall IT investment of the three carriers increased by 4%, their information security investment rose by about 22%. In the past, information security was often considered a cost, making it a lower investment priority. However, following recent hacking incidents, companies seem to be paying increased attention to information security.”

The three major mobile carriers also increased their dedicated security personnel last year as part of their efforts to strengthen security. The number of information security personnel at SK Telecom and SK Broadband rose to a total of 526, a 56% jump from 337 in 2024—the largest increase among the three. During the same period, KT’s dedicated information security personnel increased by about 9.3% from 290 in 2024 to 317 last year. LG Uplus increased its information security personnel to 351, up 19.9% from 293 the previous year.

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