SK Telecom reported that as of midnight on the 10th, a total of 1.43 million people had changed their subscriber identification devices (USIMs), and the remaining reservations awaiting exchange were tallied at 7.22 million.
On the same day, SK Telecom held a daily briefing related to the breach incident at T Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul, and noted, "The supply of USIMs will be sufficient starting next week." The company plans to provide an additional 1.17 million USIMs by the 18th. By the end of this month, an additional 5 million USIMs are expected to be supplied, increasing the pace of securing supplies, with a total of 10.77 million expected to be released into the market by June.
SK Telecom will also introduce a solution for 'USIM rerouting' on the 12th, which allows for changes to some USIM information without needing to replace the USIM. This function was designed to prevent the risk of 'cloned USIMs,' which arose from hacking that compromised USIM information. Users can receive a new set of some of their identification and authentication information, as well as personal stored data. The company explained that by changing this information, even if the leaked USIM information is obtained and attempts at cloning are made, access to the system would be blocked.
Ryu Jeong-hwan, Vice President in charge of Infrastructure Strategy Technology Center at SK Telecom, said, "In the early stages of the (hacking incident), there were inconveniences such as a shortage of USIMs and issues with reauthenticating at financial institutions after replacing USIMs," and added, "We introduced this solution to alleviate those problems." He continued, "Unlike replacement, USIM rerouting allows for the use of other services without a separate authentication process, making it convenient," and added, "However, for Samsung Pay, users simply need to click two times after rerouting to use it."
The establishment procedures for the SK Telecom Customer Trust Recovery Committee, which is being set up to respond to the USIM hacking incident, are also underway. The committee will focus on discussing customer requirements and response measures and formulating practical countermeasures. Kim Hee-seop, head of the PR Center at SK Telecom, stated, "We plan to put forward measures to regain customer trust," adding, "The specific composition of the Customer Trust Recovery Committee, the list of participants, and the operating methods will be disclosed as soon as they are prepared." He further noted, "Given the fluid situation, it's difficult to provide a definitive answer, but we are aiming to launch within 1 to 2 weeks."