South Korea’s three IPTV operators are increasing information security investment. As broadcast platforms handle sensitive data such as personal information, payment data and viewing histories, they are seen as expanding security-related investment.

Differences were clear by operator in both spending size and the share of information security investment relative to IT spending. SKT Broadband invested the most in information security, while KT Skylife had the highest information security investment ratio relative to its IT spending. LG HelloVision had the lowest information security investment ratio.

As of 2024, combined information security investment by SKT Broadband, KT Skylife and LG HelloVision totalled 32,828,770,000 won, according to the Korea Internet & Security Agency’s information security disclosure portal on June 8. That was up about 6.6 percent from 30,799,850,000 won a year earlier.

In 2024, SKT Broadband invested 28,115,190,000 won in information security, the largest among the three. Its information security investment ratio was 4.9 percent of total IT investment of 576,689,110,000 won.

KT Skylife invested 1,696,920,000 won in information security that year. Its information security spending was the smallest among the three, but its information security investment ratio was the highest at 8.8 percent of IT investment of 19,337,320,000 won.

LG HelloVision’s 2024 information security investment was 3,016,670,000 won. That was higher than KT Skylife’s, but its information security investment ratio was the lowest among the three at 3.2 percent of IT investment of 94,385,440,000 won.

Notably, all three increased their information security investment ratios from a year earlier. KT Skylife raised the ratio by 1.1 percentage points to 8.8 percent from 7.7 percent, while SKT Broadband increased it by 0.3 percentage points to 4.9 percent from 4.6 percent. LG HelloVision also lifted it by 0.6 percentage points to 3.2 percent from 2.6 percent.

SKT Broadband also led in the size of dedicated information security staff. In 2024, it had 118 dedicated staff in information security, comprising 28.3 in-house staff and 89.7 outsourced staff. The share of information security staff relative to IT staff was 5.2 percent.

KT Skylife had 8.6 dedicated information security staff, including 7 in-house staff and 1.6 external staff. Its dedicated staff total was the smallest among the three, but the share relative to IT staff was the highest at 7.9 percent. LG HelloVision had 19.3 dedicated information security staff, including 8.5 in-house staff and 10.8 outsourced staff. The share relative to IT staff was 4.5 percent.

Increasing security investment does not eliminate all operational risks. Tving, which recently had a personal data leak, invested 1,765,100,000 won in information security in 2024, similar to KT Skylife’s 1,696,920,000 won. Its information security investment ratio was 6.7 percent of IT investment, higher than SKT Broadband’s 4.9 percent and LG HelloVision’s 3.2 percent, but lower than KT Skylife’s 8.8 percent.

Industry officials advise that strengthening actual security operating systems is important aside from expanding investment. IPTV and OTT differ in service type, but both handle sensitive data such as subscribers’ personal information, payment data and usage histories.

Broadcast and content platforms have recently expanded into mobile, video-on-demand (VOD), bundled products, and advertising and recommendation services, increasing the use of personal information. That has prompted calls to strengthen overall security management systems, not just the scale of security investment.

A security industry official said, "The media industry is a field more intertwined with personal information than people think," and added, "Security efforts need to be strengthened across the entire lifecycle of handling customer information, including managing personal data access rights, detecting anomalies, encryption, managing security for outsourcing partners and affiliates, and incident response drills."