As hacking incidents and personal data leaks continue to hit financial companies, coffee franchises, government agencies, and universities, public fatigue is mounting. Apologies and password reset notices have become a daily routine, with online communities even bitterly joking that personal information has effectively become a "public good."

According to industry sources and regulatory authorities on the 23rd, personal data breach incidents have occurred almost daily this month alone. As of the 14th, financial authorities confirmed that 16 financial institutions, including Shinhan Bank, suffered cyber intrusions. Approximately 100,000 pieces of personal data were compromised. The online education site of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission also leaked the information of some 100,000 users after its operating company, Malkeun Soft, was hacked.

On the 19th, it was revealed that the customer information of roughly 2.76 million users at the coffee franchise Hollys had been leaked. On the 22nd, the portal service of Yonsei University was hacked, with an estimated 10,000 records of students and faculty members compromised.

As these accidents repeat, public reaction is shifting close to sheer resignation. When news of the Shinhan Bank hacking broke this month, a user on the IT community QuasarZone wrote, "They just get hacked every single day. Personal info is basically a public good now." Another user expressed frustration over the recurring incidents, saying, "It's not 'getting hacked once in a while'—hacking news comes out almost every day."

Voices demanding corporate accountability were also loud. One user pointed out the need for harsher punishments and expanded security investments, writing, "It's because there are no proper penalties. That's why companies don't invest in security equipment and personnel."

Appeals that individuals can hardly protect their own data on their own continued. A user who received a leak notification from a software company they had signed up for in the past vented their frustration, saying, "I have no clue what sites I even use, so I can't change anything." On another community, complaints poured in: "I got a data leak text and tried to look up my ID to change my password, but it says the ID doesn't even exist. I have no idea what they're doing," and "To contact customer service, you have to sign up on their homepage. And phone calls are just auto-received (automated response systems)."

In fact, security incidents are on the rise. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), domestic cyber intrusion reports reached 2,383 cases last year, up 26.3% from 2,000 cases in the previous period. In the first half of this year alone, 1,236 cases were filed, a 19.5% increase compared to the same period last year—already surpassing half of last year's total annual volume.

Recently, a critical vulnerability was discovered in PHP, a programming language widely used in websites worldwide, prompting the distribution of emergency security patches. Furthermore, the proliferation of AI-utilized attack methods has increased the burden of security responses for businesses.

The bigger problem is corporations' security loopholes in data management. At Hollys, temporary data created during a membership overhaul was leaked, while at the Civil Rights Commission’s education site, information that the operating company failed to discard and kept storing was compromised. As users are left to shoulder the responsibility of preventing additional damage without even knowing where their data resides, critics point out that preemptive prevention and strengthened accountability for corporations and institutions must take precedence over post-incident remedies.

During a parliamentary audit by the National Policy Committee on the 13th, Personal Information Protection Commission Chairperson Song Kyung-hee stated, "Compared to our investments in IT development, our investments in security have been severely lacking," adding that the commission will strengthen prevention-centric management systems to encourage companies and institutions to actively invest in personal information protection.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]