[Weekend Briefing] EU, South Korea join forces in cybersecurity

By Dain Oh, The Readable
Jun. 30, 2023 9:45PM GMT+9 Updated Jul. 1, 2023 12:50AM GMT+9

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Hello! This is Dain Oh in South Korea. A historic event took place in Seoul today, gathering together heads of diplomacy and cybersecurity from Europe and South Korea. Under the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the high-level conference on cybersecurity was held for the first time. The event was co-organized by Enhancing Security Cooperation In and With Asia (ESIWA), having Dr. Cormac Callanan as a moderator.

Ambassadors from Sweden, France, the Czech Republic, and Belgium appeared in the high-level session along with South Korean national leaders who oversee cybersecurity policies and international cooperation. The speeches from the event themselves are historic records for the field of cybersecurity, so I have included them in this briefing. Our readers can also find Kuksung Nam’s article about cybersecurity training which was discussed at today’s conversation. Have a great weekend!

1. EU-ROK high-level conference on cybersecurity (June 30, 2023)

Click here to read the full scripts of opening remarks and keynote speeches.

• Opening remarks by Park Yun-kyu, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science & ICT, Republic of Korea
• Keynote speech by Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market
• Keynote speech by Cho Hyun-woo, Ambassador for International Security Affairs, Republic of Korea

2. Cybersecurity education should focus on training the defenders, expert asserts

South Korea should be making efforts to train the cyber defenders rather than the offenders to protect the country from a new era where everything is connected to the internet, according to a cybersecurity professional on Friday.

“South Korea is more reliant to the internet than North Korea. The difference will get bigger as we go through the fourth industrial revolution,” said Kim Seung-joo, a cybersecurity professor at Korea University and a member of the presidential defense innovation committee, during a panel discussion at South Korea and the European Union’s high-level cybersecurity conference. “This means we need to focus on educating the defenders.” To read the full article, click here.

3. ChatGPT security guideline is published by Korean intelligence agency

The National Intelligence Service of South Korea published a security guideline on Thursday regarding generative artificial intelligence technology. In the 60 pages of instructions, the spy agency specified security threats that may result from using generative AI and recommended that users not enter any classified or sensitive information into the latest technology.

“While ChatGPT came into the limelight, it was difficult for public institutions to make use of it due to the absence of security measures by the government,” described the NIS in its press release. “Moreover, the general public needs something to refer to when they want to use ChatGPT safely,” added the national security observer agency. To read the full article, click here.

4. Break down questions to get the right answer from ChatGPT, cybersecurity researcher says

Users have to break down questions in detail to get the information they need from the latest artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, according to a cybersecurity expert on Tuesday.

“We should not expect to obtain all the answers from a single prompt,” said Seo Young-il, research project team leader at the South Korean cybersecurity firm Stealien, during his presentation at the cybersecurity threat and response strategy seminar hosted by the company. “For example, if you enter a website address and request that ChatGPT find its vulnerabilities, it would not be easy for the chatbot to generate an answer at once.” To read the full article, click here.

5. Spy agency urges deletion of auth app, citing North Korean hackers

The South Korean intelligence agency warned the public of North Korean cyberattacks on Wednesday, especially guiding them to delete the authentication software “MagicLine4NX” from any devices in use. According to the National Intelligence Service, around 50 organizations have already been infected by malicious codes which were devised by the Reconnaissance General Bureau in North Korea. Public institutions, media, and defense organizations were included among the victims. To read the full article, click here.

6. Parents of Halloween crush victim sue Apple to unlock dead son’s iPhone

The parents of one of the victims who died in a crowd surge that killed more than 150 people during Halloween festivities last year sued Apple, requesting that the company unlock their dead son’s iPhone so that they could uncover the true cause of his death. According to the Ho law firm, which represents the family members, the lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, June 14 in Seoul Central District Court against Apple’s South Korean branch, asking the company to reset the victim’s Apple account password. A week later, on June 21, the law firm submitted a modified application to the court, requesting that the iPhone tech giant unlock the victim’s phone, which was an iPhone 7 plus. To read the full article, click here.

7. Samsung fined $675,000 for a series of privacy violations

The South Korean privacy watchdog agency has imposed a fine of almost 900 million won (around $675,000) on Samsung Electronics on Wednesday for a series of information leaks that happened from 2020 to 2021. In a press release, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) stated that they held the 11th plenary session and decided to impose a penalty surcharge of 875 million won ($665,000) and another penalty of 14 million won ($11,000) on the tech giant. To read the full article, click here.

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The cover image of this article was designed by Areum Hwang.

Dain Oh is a distinguished journalist based in South Korea, recognized for her exceptional contributions to the field. As the founder and editor-in-chief of The Readable, she has demonstrated her expertise in leading media outlets to success. Prior to establishing The Readable, Dain was a journalist for The Electronic Times, a prestigious IT newspaper in Korea. During her tenure, she extensively covered the cybersecurity industry, delivering groundbreaking reports. Her work included exclusive stories, such as the revelation of incident response information sharing by the National Intelligence Service. These accomplishments led to her receiving the Journalist of the Year Award in 2021 by the Korea Institute of Information Security and Cryptology, a well-deserved accolade bestowed upon her through a unanimous decision. Dain has been invited to speak at several global conferences, including the APEC Women in STEM Principles and Actions, which was funded by the U.S. State Department. Additionally, she is an active member of the Asian American Journalists Association, further exhibiting her commitment to journalism.

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