More than 1 million cyberattack attempts recorded in South Korea — Korea Herald

The Bank of Korea and three state-run lenders recorded 1,024,478 cyberattack attempts in the first nine months of 2026. This is 9.6% more than in all of 2025, when 934,858 such incidents were registered, Korea Herald reports.

Rise in the number of attacks

The data were released by Kang Min-guk, a lawmaker from the People Power Party. The number of recorded attack attempts increased compared with 2020, when the institutions reported 358,800 cases. At the same time, from 2020 through September 2026, these attempts did not result in confirmed security breaches at these institutions.

The statistics were released amid leaks of customer data at major commercial banks, including Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank. Regulators instructed financial companies to inspect externally accessible systems, strengthen authentication and access controls, and share information about attack methods and IP addresses.

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IBK recorded the highest number of attempts

Industrial Bank of Korea accounted for 91.9% of nearly 5 million cyberattack attempts recorded since 2020. Korea Development Bank reported 399,379 cases, the Bank of Korea reported 3,076, and the Export-Import Bank of Korea reported 510.

Industrial Bank of Korea explained its significantly higher figure by the scale of its internet and mobile services for retail and corporate customers, which the bank compared with the scale of commercial banks' services.

Types of cyberattacks

Denial-of-service attacks aimed at disrupting the normal operation of systems were the most common category, accounting for 45.6% of all recorded attempts. They were followed by attempts to gather information, use malware and gain unauthorized access. The Bank of Korea's IT center in Gyeonggi Province, which houses the regulator's main servers, recorded 145 attack attempts after opening in October 2025.