Yoon urges enhanced cybersecurity against state-sponsored hacking attacks
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an opening ceremony for the 2024 International Symposium on Cybercrime Response in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, Aug. 27. Yonhap
President Yoon Suk Yeol called for stronger cybersecurity measures Tuesday to protect national security against increasingly sophisticated state-sponsored hacking attacks.
Yoon highlighted cyber threats posed by state-sponsored organizations in an apparent reference to North Korea during an address to the International Symposium on Cybercrime Response hosted by the Korean National Police Agency.
"With the rapid development of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, combating cyber crimes has become more difficult," Yoon said. "State-sponsored hacking organizations are launching cyberattacks, threatening not only individuals and companies but also national security."
In February, the presidential office unveiled the national cybersecurity strategy outlining a "proactive and preemptive response" against cyber threats by hostile forces amid rising security concerns over Pyongyang's alleged cryptocurrency theft to fund its missile and nuclear programs.
Yoon stressed the need to train elite personnel and develop cybersecurity technologies to better deal with hacking attacks in partnership with the international community.
During a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Yoon urged authorities to beef up efforts to crack down on digital sex crimes to combat AI-generated deepfake content fast spreading through social media.
"Deepfake videos may be dismissed as mere pranks, but they are clearly criminal acts that exploit technology under the shield of anonymity," Yoon said. "Anyone can be a victim of such digital sex crimes."
Numerous chat rooms suspected of creating and distributing deepfake pornographic material with doctored photos of ordinary women have been discovered recently, with many of the victims and perpetrators identified as teenagers. (Yonhap)