“There are more hacking attempts by North Korean hackers to fake employment with global companies and steal information from their suppliers, South Korean companies.”
Simon Green, president of Japan and Asia Pacific (JAPAC) of Palo Alto Networks, the world’s No. 1 cybersecurity company, recently warned in an interview with Maeil Business. He said, “North Korean hackers are infiltrating global technical positions using false careers and combined status and are attempting precision hacking through internal networks.”
It is a method to strengthen accessibility by disguising itself as a partner company’s computerized job for hacking such as stealing information from Korean companies or paralyzing corporate networks. Such crimes have been affected by the fact that remote work from home has been activated since the COVID-19 pandemic, making it easier to get a job without having to go to work face-to-face.
“Korean companies are on the verge of facing geopolitical threats at the national level beyond simply suffering financial losses from hacking and ransomware attacks,” he said. “We need to secure various human security strategies such as insider identification systems, access rights management, and cyber crisis response methods.”
Palo Alto Networks is a cybersecurity company established in Silicon Valley in the United States in 2005. 95% of Pocheon’s top 100 companies are customers of the company, securing an unrivaled position in the global market. It is known that there are 70,000 corporate customers worldwide.
“The biggest change in the cybersecurity market over the past 20 years has also changed the paradigm of cyberattacks due to advanced technological advances including artificial intelligence (AI),” Green said. “In the past, manual-oriented hacking is now rapidly evolving into automation and target attacks using AI,” he said. “Deepfakes, customized phishing, and AI-based malicious codes are emerging as major threats.”
In the past, for example, there were many cases of hacking in which ransomware or phishing hacking tools were randomly sprayed and then damaged. Recently, however, AI has evolved into a customized tactic to devise hacking methods and attack the weakest parts when pointing to a specific target.
In fact, according to the analysis of Unit 42, a threat information analysis agency under Palo Alto Networks, 70% of global security accidents in 2024 were “multi-vector attacks” that used multiple vectors at the same time.
The pace of hacking is also accelerating. Green said, “86 percent of cyberattacks have led to work disruptions and financial losses, and 20 percent of data leaks occur in just an hour.” Recently, the risk to browsers is also increasing. Green pointed out, “More than 85% of today’s work is done by browsers, and half of the security accidents occurred in the process of using browsers.”
Regarding the SK Telecom information leak in Korea, he said it is a global phenomenon, not just in Korea. “Attackers are strengthening the speed and sophistication of cyberattacks regardless of borders,” Green said. “We need Korean companies to have a global security system and cooperate with reliable security partners.” In particular, he advised, “Core infrastructure industries such as medical, energy, finance, transportation, and data centers are more vulnerable to sophisticated attacks because they have large amounts of intellectual property rights and sensitive data.” Accordingly, a national cybersecurity strategy is also needed. Green explained, “The move to raise the level of security awareness and strengthen response capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region has recently been strengthened.” Palo Alto Networks recently introduced ‘Precision AI’, a next-generation AI security technology system. President Green emphasized, “Precision AI is a next-generation security solution with a concept that responds to threats created by AI beyond simple analysis.”
The 26th World Knowledge Forum, which will be held in September, plans to invite Palo Alto Networks, the world’s No. 1 cybersecurity company, to hold a cybersecurity session.
[Reporter JINYOUNG TAE]
