Seoul: The science ministry on Tuesday called for companies to spare no efforts to enhance their cybersecurity capabilities while stressing chief executive officers (CEOs) are ultimately responsible for protecting customer data. The Ministry of Science and ICT held a meeting with chief information security officers (CISOs) from major companies, including CJ ENM, KT Cloud, and GS Retail, to discuss their internal security management activities, along with measures to address hacking incidents.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the science ministry also reviewed whether the CISOs are granted the necessary authority and if their CEOs are proactively involved in security-related issues. The meeting came amid a series of high-profile data breach incidents at SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., and Lotte Card Co.
During the meeting, Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung said South Korea is facing a "grave situation" following the recent cybersecurity crisis, urging businesses to promptly conduct security inspections and report the results to the ministry. "We need to fundamentally strengthen businesses' security awareness and capabilities under the perception that security protection is directly linked to the survival of companies," Ryu told Yonhap News Agency over the phone.