South Korea Probes AI-Linked Cyberattacks Targeting Major Banks

Seoul: (Web Desk) South Korea has launched an investigation into a series of cyberattacks targeting financial institutions, with President Lee Jae Myung warning that artificial intelligence may have been used in some of the incidents.

More than seven financial institutions, including several major banks, have reported customer data breaches over the past week. The Financial Services Commission said more than 68,000 people have been affected.

“There are signs that artificial intelligence was used in some hacking attacks,” Lee said during a cabinet meeting, warning that advances in AI could make sophisticated hacking accessible even to people without specialised technical skills.

The president said the growing sophistication of AI-powered hacking methods and the expanding scale of potential damage required heightened vigilance from the government, businesses and wider society.

Police announced on Tuesday that an investigation had been launched following Lee’s directive.

A government official told AFP that an open-source security testing tool known as Artex AI, which is believed to be a Chinese AI system, was highly likely to have been used in the attacks.

However, officials stressed that the possible use of the tool does not establish a link to Chinese attackers. Park Sang-won, head of the Financial Security Institute, said attackers can operate through IP addresses in different locations, meaning an IP address alone cannot identify who carried out an attack.