Seoul Implements Macro Blocking, Detects 130,000 Cases in One Month

Macro Blocking Implemented in Public Service Reservation System
2.7% of 4.83 Million Total Access Attempts Detected
Ensuring Fairness... Sharp Drop in Forced Cancellations and Inconvenience

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on September 7 that it had blocked 130,000 fraudulent access attempts within just one month of introducing a detection and blocking system to prevent macros on its Public Service Reservation System.

The Public Service Reservation System is an integrated platform that allows users to browse, reserve, and pay for over 13,000 services annually-including sports facilities, educational courses, and cultural experiences-provided by the city, district offices, and affiliated organizations, all in one place.

Seoul Metropolitan Government Public Service Reservation System. Seoul Metropolitan Government

Seoul has consistently implemented measures to prevent fraudulent reservations on the Public Service Reservation System. These have included dynamic buttons that change at set intervals, simple CAPTCHA, Google CAPTCHA, and SMS verification. Reservations suspected of being made by macros have been canceled by administrators. In fact, 315 suspected macro reservations were canceled last year, and 27 have been canceled in the first half of this year.

This issue has repeatedly occurred at highly competitive sports facilities, such as the Boramae Park tennis courts. Macro programs have been used to reserve some popular sports facilities, leading to inconvenience and complaints from citizens. The existing prevention measures had limitations in completely blocking technical workarounds. There were a total of 13 related complaints last year and 7 in the first half of this year alone. Among some citizens, distrust spread, with a belief that reservations were impossible without using macros.

Recognizing the need for a new technical solution capable of fundamentally blocking such attempts and ensuring fair reservation opportunities, Seoul spent six months comparing and verifying various solutions from the end of last year. In July this year, the city introduced the optimal blocking solution. This newly adopted solution analyzes the entire reservation process in real time-from entering reservation information to completing payment-to detect abnormal patterns.

Clear results emerged within just one month of operating the solution. In July alone, Seoul detected and blocked a total of 130,000 macro access attempts, accounting for 2.7% of the 4.83 million total access attempts. In particular, the number of abnormal reservations-those completed within seconds of opening and deemed macro attempts-dropped sharply from a previous monthly average of 26 to just one per month after the solution was introduced.

The city believes that the introduction of this solution sets a new standard for digital administrative services based on fairness and trust, going beyond simply blocking macro reservations. Kang Okhyun, Director of Seoul's Digital City Bureau, stated, "By introducing this macro blocking solution, we have resolved the long-standing issue of unfair reservations that caused inconvenience for citizens, and we will establish a reservation culture where everyone can participate fairly."