[Edaily Reporter Yun Junghoon ] The three major mobile carriers increased both their investment in information security and their dedicated security personnel last year compared to the previous year. This increase in investment was driven by the need to respond to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and the aftermath of last year’s hacking incidents.

According to information security disclosures by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) on the 30th SKTelecom(017670), KTCorporation(030200), and LG Uplus(032640), the total information security investment by the three companies last year amounted to 3675억원, an increase of approximately 22.0% from the previous year (3012억원).

SKT showed the largest increase. Unlike KTCorporation and LG Uplus, SKT operates its fixed-line business separately through its subsidiary, SK Broadband; therefore, the total investment figure is typically calculated by combining the information security investments of these two companies.

Last year’s combined information security investment by SKT and SK Broadband totaled 1434억원, a 53.7% increase from 2024 (933억원). SKT invested 1110억원, while SK Broadband invested approximately 323억원; this represents about 6.7% of the two companies’ total information technology (IT) investment.

The number of dedicated information security personnel totaled 526 (525.9 when combined), with 400.5 at SKT and 125.4 at SK Broadband, marking a 56.0% increase from the previous year (337.2). SKT is also accelerating organizational reforms, such as forming the “SKT Red Team,” a group of penetration testing experts reporting directly to the CISO.

KTCorporation invested 127.5 billion won in information security last year, an increase of approximately 2% compared to 2024 (125.0 billion won). This accounts for about 6.3% of the company’s total IT investment of 2.0215 trillion won. The number of dedicated information security personnel rose by 9.3%, from 290.2 in 2024 to 317.1 last year.

LG Uplus invested 96.6 billion won in information security last year, a 16.7% increase from the previous year (82.8 billion won).

The number of dedicated information security personnel rose to 351.3, a 19.9% increase from the previous year (292.9), accounting for 7.0% of the total IT workforce.