Seoul, May 26 South Korea's major companies spent an average of 2.9 billion won ($2.1 million) per year on information protection, industry data showed on Monday.
According to data from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and other sources, 10 local companies each invested over 100 billion won in cybersecurity over the past three years.
Samsung Electronics Co. topped the list, spending a total of 712.6 billion won from 2021-2023, followed by telecom giant KT Corp., which invested 327.4 billion won during the same period, reports Yonhap news agency.
SK Telecom Co., the country's largest mobile carrier that recently suffered a large-scale data breach, came in third with 251.5 billion won in spending.
Other companies in the top 10 include Coupang Inc., SK hynix Inc., LG Uplus Corp., Samsung SDS Co., Woori Bank, Naver Corp. and LG Electronics Inc.
In 2022, the South Korean government mandated that companies operating network infrastructure or generating over 300 billion won in annual sales disclose their cybersecurity investment.
A total of 746 companies reported their spending on information protection for 2023, investing a combined 2.1 trillion won, up from 1.5 trillion won by 658 firms in 2021.
The average annual spending per company increased 24.5 percent from 2.3 billion won in 2021 to 2.9 billion won in 2023.
However, experts warn that many South Korean firms remain highly vulnerable to cyberattacks due to relatively weak security capabilities, said the report.
"In terms of investment, most companies in Korea have far lower security capabilities than SK Telecom, which was the latest victim of a cyberattack," one industry insider said.
"Many are more vulnerable to advanced hacking techniques, and some may have already been breached without even knowing it. Companies need to stay alert and undergo thorough security checks,” the insider added.
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