According to South Korean media reports, as the threat of cyberattacks targeting the financial industry continues to escalate, the Financial Security Agency (FSA), responsible for managing the financial industry's security infrastructure, plans to increase its budget by approximately 10% next year, a 59.3% increase compared to five years ago. However, some argue that the expansion of professional talent is relatively slow. The FSA's budget for next year is planned at 109.7 billion won, a 9.5% increase from this year's 100.2 billion won. Industry experts believe that with the increasing threat of cyberattacks and the expanding responsibilities of the FSA, it is necessary to expand the agency's size accordingly. Since the attack on Shinhan Bank at the end of last month, AI-powered attacks targeting domestic financial companies have occurred one after another, resulting in the leakage of nearly 100,000 pieces of personal information from 16 companies. However, despite the increasing workload of the FSA, questions remain about whether it possesses sufficient professional talent. As of the 13th of this month, the agency had 311 employees, an increase of only 52 compared to the end of 2022, a 20.1% increase, less than half of the budget increase.
