[Exclusive] Cyberattacks on Foreign Ministry Surge 46% This Year; Response Staffing Unchanged for Years

About 10,000 Personal Data Records Leaked from Foreign Ministry in February
Nearly 26,000 Cyberattacks from January to August
Kim Geon: "Must Prevent Leaks of Diplomatic and Security Information"

As cybersecurity becomes increasingly important following recent hacking incidents in the financial sector, cyberattacks targeting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the heart of foreign policy, surged by about 46% this year. The ministry's response staff has remained unchanged for years, prompting calls for urgent measures to prevent leaks of diplomatic and security information.

Kim Geon, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. Yonhap News

According to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs obtained by Kim Geon of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the ministry's headquarters and overseas missions were targeted in 25,551 cyberattacks from January through August this year. This represents a 45.97% increase from the 17,504 attacks recorded over all of last year and a 74.12% increase from the 14,674 recorded in 2024. If this trend continues, the number of cyberattacks could exceed 30,000 by the end of the year, according to projections.

By type, the most common attacks were attempts to steal server information (11,257), attempts to hack websites (4,305), attempts to collect server information (4,246), and attempts to take over email accounts and receipt of phishing emails (3,948). In particular, attempts to steal server information and collect information surged by 286.97% and 125.01%, respectively, from last year. Attacks targeting servers, the source of various types of data, stood out.

The problem is that the ministry's response staff has remained unchanged for years, despite the annual increase in attempted cyberattacks. From 2024 through this year, the authorized staffing levels were just six personnel at the ministry's headquarters responsible for responding to such threats and 18 at the Foreign Service Cybersecurity Center, which is outsourced. Actual damage has also occurred. In February, about 10,000 records containing personal data on diplomats, ministry employees and others were leaked from the National Diplomatic Academy's online education system. The incident resulted from an attacker infiltrating the server.

Assemblyman Kim said, "By August this year, the number of attempted cyberattacks targeting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already exceeded last year's total, and the sharp increase in attempts to steal server information is a serious problem. The ministry must strengthen its cybersecurity systems and vulnerability assessments and work to prevent leaks of diplomatic and security information."

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