Viva Republica, operator of Toss, won the top prize at an AI-powered hacking defence contest hosted by the Financial Security Institute. Toss Securities also received an excellence award. With those results, Toss affiliates have produced the contest's winning team for six straight years since 2021.

Toss said on Thursday it finished first among 10 teams that advanced to the finals of the 2026 Financial Security AI Hacking Defence Competition.

Hosted by the Financial Security Institute and sponsored by the Financial Services Commission, the event was held for the first time after the former Financial Security Threat Analysis Competition (FIESTA) was revamped into a hands-on contest to verify AI-based attack and defence capabilities.

Four members of Toss' Security Threat Assessment Team, including Choi Jeong-su (최정수), Kwon Jae-seung (권재승), Kim Jae-seong (김재성) and Jeon Hye-rim (전혜림), competed as Team "Decaf Amaretto Latte" and received the Financial Services Commission chairman's award and 12 million won in prize money. Team "Kim Mong-sol Fan Club", made up of Toss Securities' security technology team members Kwon Hyuk-ju (권혁주), Kim Beop-seong (김법성), Kim Tae-wook (김태욱) and Lee Sang-hyun (이상현), placed second and won the Financial Security Institute head's award.

Toss affiliates finished first for four straight years through 2024, starting with Toss' security team winning the title in 2021. Toss Securities won last year, and Toss returned to take first place this year.

Toss runs a dedicated security team made up of white-hat hackers and carries out vulnerability checks, develops in-house security solutions and conducts training to respond to cyber attacks. It also operates a bug bounty programme on an ongoing basis to receive reports of security vulnerabilities.

A Toss official said, "We will stay a step ahead in preparing for newly emerging threats in the AI era and create a financial environment that users can use with peace of mind."