SEOUL, KOREA- In Korea, the ubiquity of the Internet and smart-phone technology is not always something to celebrate, it can come with many undesirable side effects. After the March 20 and June 25 cyber attacks, information security is still a hot button issue in the country.
Information security has the huge potential for future development as it is a core business that protects our lives from a variety of risks derived from the development of information and communication technologies (ICT), and can be a key driver for job creation. “In order for Korea's information security field to have global competitiveness, our market has to internationally expand and should have technologies and manpower that are commensurate to the market.” says Lee, the President of Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA).
In fact, about 92% of domestic information security companies are small or medium sized enterprises which have annual sales of less than ₩30 billion. The nation's top information security company, AhnLab's annual sales ($120 million) is only 1.8% of that of the world's top Symantec’s annual sales ($6.73 billion).
President Lee of KISA says the level of Korea's information security technologies is only 80% of that of the U.S. and Korea needs to develop its own original technologies to dominate the world market. “We also need to have a highly skilled workforce who are able to cope with most sophisticated cyber attacks.”
Recruiting manpower is one of the KISA's main agendas for the recent reshuffle of the organization. Lee pinpoints securing experts and specialized manpower as one of his most significant tasks to make sure Korea’s cyberspace is secure. In a bid to turn out more professionals, the government will train 5,000 professionals to respond to national cyber attacks by 2017 and KISA will educate 1,260 out of the 5,000, while other private organizations will train the rest.
“KISA will join hands with Korea's top universities to operate a master’s degree program and educate high-skilled professionals who are well-trained both in theory and in practice.” Lee says.
KISA held a recruitment fair in San Francisco in September and posted job openings on the Korean Student Association homepage in the U.S. It is promoting plans to hire winners of hacking defense contests.
Lee says KISA will hire approximately 36 people for the cyber security field as well as some for personal information protection, internet technology, etc.
“We will not just wait for outstanding people to come to us. We will go out and find them.” Lee notes.
Cyber attacks are rapidly evolving and an impeccably strong shield is needed to confront them. “We will concentrate on analyzing attacks promptly, enhancing global cooperation, and conducting pre-inspection on the infrastructure.” Lee claims.
One of the core elements of the cyber security is to detect new vulnerabilities, malicious codes, and hacking. KISA enlarged the Korea Internet Security Center (KISC) to analyze the correlation among elements, rapidly deal with the outbreak of attacks, and widen prevention. It also established the 'global cyber security belt' with security firms and related organizations in the U.S., China, Japan, and Israel. They will share the detected malicious codes with global cyber security firms that are on constant alert.
“We are planning to reinforce the cooperation with the U.S government and expand the cooperation to the European Union, Germany and the United Kingdom.” Lee says. KISA will also put ₩6 billion of a revised supplementary budget for the DDoS attack protection system.
Lee thinks supporting Korean companies is also crucial to meet global standards. KISA financially and systemically shores up local firms, for example, by providing consulting on export marketing or operating support centers.
“We want to make sure all services and products provided by domestic small and medium sized companies are sold at a fair price. They have to be paid in full so that their quality and capability to export are strengthened.” Lee stresses.
The organization also encourages local companies to participate in international conferences and exhibitions.
With large scale international conferences slated, including the Seoul Conference on Cyberspace 2013, KISA will play a vital role in the smooth cooperation with international organizations.
KISA will strengthen cooperation with international organizations including the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It will also establish and operate a global information security center jointly with the World Bank. It will set up the Central and South American ICT education center in cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank.
“We dispatched a cyber security professional to the OECD in March and will dispatch another to ITU.” says Lee.
Recently international attention is being paid to the Korean market, especially because of the many international conferences being held in the country. As a result, opportunities for domestic information and communication and media companies to enter international market will likely increase in the near future. “To fully support the successful hosting of events and showcasing how Korea is doing as the leading country in the field are KISA's jobs. We need to implant the nation into the international market." Lee says.
