Personal Information Leaks Continuously... US Imposes Up to 9 Million Won Fine Per Case

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] #In June last year, Mr. Lee (42), who was arrested, was caught by the police while attempting to implant malware into the internal computer network of a domestic commercial bank. During the police investigation, it was revealed that he stored personal and financial information collected through hacking on an external hard drive with a capacity of 1.5 terabytes (TB).

Recently, as incidents of personal information leakage due to hacking crimes have occurred one after another, calls for personal information protection are growing louder. It is explained that creating an environment where companies such as financial institutions handling sensitive personal information can focus on information security is more important than anything else.

According to experts on the 20th, in California, USA, under the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CCPA), companies that collect personal information of more than 50,000 people are held strictly accountable in the event of hacking. If personal information is leaked due to the business operator's failure to implement reasonable security procedures, fines of up to $7,500 (about 9 million KRW) per case can be imposed, and compensation of up to $750 must be paid to consumers.

Professor Lim Jong-in of Korea University Graduate School of Information Security said, "Even if consumers who suffered damage from hacking win a lawsuit up to the Supreme Court, they only receive compensation of 100,000 to 200,000 KRW, but if CCPA is introduced, the burden on companies will increase, and they will put more effort into security."

The reason why such strict standards are applied to personal information leakage in the United States is because the secondary damage caused by hacking crimes is enormous. In fact, in Korea, like Jo Joo-bin (24, detained), the operator of the Telegram 'Doctor's Room,' after identifying the victim's personal information, he threatened to expose their identity information, exploiting weaknesses and leading to sexual crimes or other crimes.

Experts unanimously agree that fundamental measures are needed to prevent hacking crimes. Goo Tae-eon, CEO of Law Firm Lin, said, "If hacking is a spear, security is a shield," adding, "It is important to learn lessons from hacking and prevent repeated attacks using known attack techniques."

Attorney Goo advocates the introduction of a security audit system. He explained, "Just as external accounting audits are conducted, if companies above a certain size are required to undergo security audits from security consulting firms, companies will increase dedicated security teams and strengthen security capabilities." He added, "If the security audit system is introduced, a security audit market will also be formed. When companies receive evaluations of their security levels and correct them, the overall level will eventually improve compared to now."

Professor Lim said, "Even if consumers who suffered damage from hacking win a lawsuit up to the Supreme Court, they only receive compensation of 100,000 to 200,000 KRW, but if CCPA is introduced, the burden on companies will increase, and they will put more effort into security."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.