Securing the Golden Time in a 'Cyber Crisis'... NIS Launches Cyber 119

46 Government, Local Governments, and Public Institutions Participating

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has launched a government and agency consultative body that can respond swiftly in the event of large-scale cyber outages or hacking incidents.

On the 2nd, the NIS announced that it held the launch ceremony for 'Cyber 119,' which will perform this role. A total of 46 organizations are participating, including related ministries such as the Ministry of Science and ICT, the prosecution, and the police; metropolitan local governments such as Busan, Daejeon, Gwangju, and Daegu; and public institutions such as Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). These organizations are divided into five regions?Capital Area, Chungcheong Area, Yeongnam Area, Honam Area, and Jeju Area?and have begun full-scale activities.

Yoon Oh-jun, the 3rd Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, is speaking at the launch ceremony of 'Cyber 119' held on the 2nd.
[Photo by National Intelligence Service]

Cyber 119 operates on a non-permanent basis during peacetime but is activated upon the NIS's Cyber 119 convening request in cases of large-scale cyber incidents such as ▲ paralysis of major information and communication networks or information systems ▲ occurrence of large-scale intrusion incidents ▲ attacks by state-backed hacking organizations involving multiple institutions.

Previously, in November last year, when an electronic government service outage occurred due to an administrative network failure, the Rapid Support Team belonging to the National Cyber Crisis Management Group was dispatched to the site to investigate the cause of the failure, including whether hacking was involved, and supported service recovery and stabilization. This incident raised concerns that large-scale cyber outages or hacking incidents should be approached from a security perspective. It was emphasized that a rapid response system at the metropolitan level capable of dispatch and crisis response within the golden time must be established. In response to these concerns, the NIS established the joint response consultative body called Cyber 119.

Yoon Oh-jun, the 3rd Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, is speaking at the launch ceremony of 'Cyber 119' held on the 2nd.
[Photo by National Intelligence Service]

Shin Yong-seok, Cybersecurity Secretary of the National Security Office, said, "As the existing regional cybersecurity councils have evolved into a nationwide consultative body, future cyber crisis response activities will advance significantly."

Yoon Oh-jun, 3rd Deputy Director of the NIS, stated, "We will establish a metropolitan rapid response system centered on the consultative body," and added, "We will actively support so that Cyber 119 can faithfully perform its role as a cyber special firefighter."

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