Support for Cybersecurity Network Expansion Costs for 500 ICT SMEs... 15 Million KRW Each

[Asia Economy Reporter Seolgina Jo] ICT small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to receive up to 15 million KRW per company in financial support when adopting information security products and services.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) announced on the 22nd that they will promote a supplementary budget project worth 4.5 billion KRW called ‘Expansion of Cyber Safety Net for ICT SMEs’ to strengthen security in response to the activation of non-face-to-face services after the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is due to increased concerns about cyber intrusion incidents as cyberattack attempts have risen compared to previous years following the increase in online activities after the spread of COVID-19. It has been found that one out of five domestic companies allocates less than 1% of their IT budget to information security. According to a survey, many companies responded that it is difficult to find necessary information security products and services (42.6%) and that related budgets have not been secured (38.4%).

The Ministry of Science and ICT will expand this project through the third supplementary budget by providing tailored consulting to ICT SMEs to accurately diagnose security threats and support costs when adopting information security products and services. The support target has been increased from 300 companies to 500 companies. Currently, the announcement is ongoing on the Public Procurement Service’s Nara Marketplace.

Previously, the project allowed up to 10 million KRW per company, which only covered measures for some vulnerable areas, but through the third supplementary budget, companies will be able to receive up to 15 million KRW each.

Heo Seong-wook, Director of Information Security Network Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "We are promoting the establishment of the K-Cyber Defense System to effectively respond to the increase in cyber threats due to the acceleration of digital transformation," adding, "We hope this supplementary budget project will help improve the information security level of ICT SMEs and also revitalize the information security industry."

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