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Corporate cybersecurity threats exceed 7,000 cases in past 6 yrs: data

Published: 21 Sep. 2025, 12:54

Rep. Hwang Jung-a of the Democratic Party, right, speaks during speaks at an emergency policy discussion on strategies for responding to deepfake-related concerns and advancing AI at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Feb. 4. [NEWS1]

Over 7,000 cases of data breaches have been reported by companies in Korea over the past six years, data showed Sunday, raising concerns over the country's cybersecurity amid a recent string of hacking attacks against telecom and financial firms.

A total of 7,198 cases of cybersecurity threats were filed with authorities between 2020 and last Sunday, according to data submitted to Rep. Hwang Jung-a of the Democratic Party.

The number of cases stood at 603 in 2020 and climbed slightly to 640 in 2021 before nearly doubling to 1,142 in 2022.

In 2023, a total of 1,277 cases were reported, followed by 1,887 in 2024 and 1,649 so far this year.

Small and medium-sized firms reported 5,907 such cases, accounting for 82 percent of the total, followed by mid-sized firms at 592 cases, and conglomerates at 242 cases. Nonprofit organizations also reported 457 cases, according to the data.

Most of the cases involved system hacking, which stood at 4,354 cases, or 60.5 percent of the total, while malware infections and distributions accounted for 20.9 percent, and DDoS attacks stood at 18.6 percent.

In detail, the number of system hacking incidents stood at 250 in 2020, accounting for 41.4 percent of the total that year, but the figure surged to 72.8 percent last year, and 61.3 percent so far this year, the same data showed.

Yonhap