Cyberattack using AI agents hits South Korean banks, regulator calls emergency meeting

South Korea’s financial regulator held an emergency meeting on Friday with banks and other institutions after a wave of data breaches — and the Yonhap news agency reported that Hana Bank was the latest bank hit by hackers, as Reuters writes.

According to Yonhap, the names, personal identification numbers and telephone numbers of 89 Hana Bank clients were leaked, but not their financial information. Bank officials were not immediately available for comment, and the agency did not say when the breach had occurred.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced that it had spoken to banks, credit companies and banking regulators, instructing financial institutions to inspect the protection of their systems against unauthorised access. The regulator also confirmed that Shinhan and KB, among other commercial banks, had reported cyberattacks against their systems and that the authorities were investigating.

The most serious case is that of Shinhan Bank, which announced on Thursday that the personal information of around 25,000 clients — including data on borrowing, annual income, names and telephone numbers — had been leaked through a novel attack using an artificial intelligence agent. The attack was carried out on September 30 through the mobile site dedicated to loan officers, and the financial supervisor launched an on-site inspection at the lender.

A day later, KB Kookmin Bank confirmed that around 119 clients had been affected by unauthorised external access, detected on September 30: the leaked data include names, telephone numbers, addresses and encrypted identification numbers. The bank explained that the affected system was an internal mobile platform for employees, unrelated to client transactions such as internet banking or mobile banking, and pledged to compensate any damage in full. Woori Bank also reported that its systems had been breached by agents who stole personal information, according to Yonhap.

Industry sources say the hackers, currently suspected to be based abroad, used advanced artificial intelligence tools to exploit vulnerable platforms. Experts assess that Shinhan Bank does not appear to have been a targeted objective, but fell victim to random automated AI attacks on vulnerable online platforms — a warning signal that the entire financial sector may be vulnerable and that institutions must carry out security checks immediately.