Ahn Cheol-soo, a candidate for the People Power Party's presidential primary, claimed on the 28th regarding the SK Telecom USIM hacking incident, "The government should not limit its investigation to a simple inquiry but should carry out stringent measures against SK Telecom along with a comprehensive audit of the security status of all three telecommunications companies."
Ahn noted through Facebook that "The hacking of USIM information from SK Telecom is escalating public anxiety," adding, "23 million subscribers, half of the population, are at risk of having their information compromised."
He stated, "The hacked USIM information can be abused for activating phone lines, accessing bank and securities apps, and making small payments," asserting, "The greater problem is the uncertainty about where and how the stolen information will be used in the future."
Ahn said, "However, it has not even been clearly revealed what information has been leaked so far," adding, "The Ministry of Science and ICT has commenced investigations, but the results are said to take more than a month. This response is far too slow to alleviate public anxiety."
Ahn stated, "What is even more serious is that the sensitive information server was not designated as a 'critical information and communications infrastructure,' leaving it in a blind spot of government oversight," criticizing, "SK Telecom's poor management and inadequate response are also deserving of criticism. The support for USIM replacement was delayed, and given the lack of stock, the USIM protection service introduced as a countermeasure has essentially become useless due to overwhelming traffic."
He also added, "SK Telecom should respond by compensating all damages from this USIM hacking incident and taking on unlimited responsibility."
Ahn expressed concern, stating, "We are now in a hyper-connected society where everything in daily life is connected to mobile phones," and added, "USIM hacking can lead to a collapse of daily life." He continued, "As the election approaches, it is essential to strengthen security for various key servers," urging, "The government must quickly disclose the situation regarding the damage and provide extraordinary measures. Daily life must never be hacked."
Earlier, on the 18th, SK Telecom confirmed signs that some information related to users' USIMs had been leaked due to malicious code from hackers. The leaked information is said to include unique identification numbers that identify each subscriber's USIM. The exact scale of the damage has not yet been disclosed.