KT highlighted efforts to innovate information security, including expanding security investment, developing internal specialists and spreading a security culture, to mark Information Protection Day. It plans to upgrade its security system to restore customer trust and strengthen security competitiveness in the AI era.

KT said on Tuesday it invested 127.6 billion won in the information security sector in fiscal 2025. It kept annual information security investment above 100 billion won for four consecutive years. The company said the amount ranked third in South Korea among single firms and was the largest among telecom operators.

The company is also expanding dedicated information security staff. KT has 317 dedicated information security staff. Of them, 164 are internal specialists, accounting for more than half. KT said it operates a system led by in-house specialists that covers everything from security strategy to protecting core systems and responding to incidents.

KT is also building a mid- to long-term system to develop security specialists. It runs a tailored security academy for IT and network developers. It is also strengthening in-house security expertise by pursuing the establishment of a contract-based academic department in information security with Seoul National University.

KT will also run an in-house "Information Protection Week (Secure Together)" throughout July to mark Information Protection Day. KT plans to deliver security messages to employees on the importance of information protection and practical actions, and to spread a culture of voluntary security practices through participatory campaigns.

KT is also pushing innovation across its overall security system. KT last year established an information security master plan based on recommendations from a joint public-private investigation team to prevent recurrence. Through this, it is overhauling its management system and strengthening information security governance and its asset and supply chain management system.

KT is re-establishing an information security framework optimized for its environment and systematically implementing and checking companywide tasks to prevent recurrence. A key step is shifting from a response-focused security system after an incident to a prevention-focused one.

KT is also expanding an always-on prevention and proactive response system based on zero trust. It is advancing AI-based security technology and strengthening personal information protection governance by separately appointing a chief privacy officer and launching a personal information protection advisory committee.

KT is also reviewing field-centered security governance. Lee Sang-woon (이상운), KT's chief information security officer, visited the Mokdong data center that handles important personal information, the Dongbu Core Operations Center on the front line of responding to cyber attacks originating overseas, and the Seoul metropolitan control center and the Seobu Core Operations Center that oversee key backbone facilities, to check the status of security policy implementation.

KT has recently said it will invest a total of about 12 trillion won over three years in information security, IT and networks to strengthen what it called a "solid essence," the starting point for growth.

Lee said, "KT will not stop at simply strengthening security technology, but will build a solid information security system in which the organization, people and processes work together." He added, "We will continue to strengthen our security competitiveness so we can grow into an AX platform company that customers can trust most."