[Edaily Reporter Yun Junghoon ]SKTelecom(017670)has published its first-ever Information Security White Paper and unveiled a mid- to long-term roadmap aimed at innovating its company-wide security framework and restoring customer trust. This official report comes one year after the company conducted a comprehensive review of all areas—including organization, investment, and technology—starting from scratch in response to a security incident that occurred last year.

SKT announced on the 1st that it has published and made available on its website the “Information Security White Paper 2025,” which compiles its information security and personal data protection activities aimed at maintaining customer trust amid the evolving cyber threat landscape.

This white paper goes beyond mere technical countermeasures; it transparently documents company-wide changes and implementation results by integrating information security into the highest level of the company’s management framework. The white paper consists of three parts: △ Information Security Governance, △ Information Security Architecture and Technology, and △ Personal Information Protection.

700 billion won to be invested over five years… Accelerating the transition to a zero-trust architecture

SKT is undertaking a large-scale investment to fundamentally enhance the security levels of its digital infrastructure and services across the board. Based on information security disclosures (T+B), the company has decided to allocate a cumulative budget of approximately 700 billion won over five years, from fiscal year 2025 through fiscal year 2029, for concentrated investment.

The investment funds will be focused on advancing a next-generation security architecture based on the “Zero Trust” principle (trusting nothing and verifying everything). The plan is to comprehensively implement advanced security solutions—such as Identity & Access Management (IAM), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), and micro-segmentation—to prevent the spread of risks within internal networks at the source. In addition, investments will be made to strengthen AI-based threat detection and analysis capabilities and to expand customer protection services aimed at preventing cybercrimes affecting the general public, such as smishing and voice phishing.

New Integrated Security Center Established Directly Under the CEO… CISO Reports Directly to the Board to Ensure Independence

The security governance framework has also been completely overhauled. SKT has launched an “Integrated Security Center” reporting directly to the CEO to serve as the company-wide security control tower. In particular, it has established an independent decision-making structure in which the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) reports key security issues and decisions directly to senior management and the board of directors, elevating the weight of these decisions to the highest executive level.

In addition, the company maintains a “Red Team”—a dedicated penetration testing unit reporting directly to the CISO—that continuously evaluates the practical effectiveness of its defense systems from the perspective of external attackers, enabling the proactive identification and mitigation of potential security risks.

257 Innovation Initiatives Established… 171 Completed, Achieving a 66.5% Implementation Rate

According to the white paper, since establishing its “Information Security Innovation Plan” last year, SKT has selected a total of 257 specific innovation initiatives and is implementing them in phases. As of June this year, the company has already completed 171 initiatives—accounting for 66.5% of the total—while 37 initiatives are underway with the goal of completion by the end of the year. The remaining 49 initiatives are also scheduled to be completed sequentially by 2027.

Looking at implementation rates by area, the “Architecture and Technology” category—which includes an integrated IT and network asset management system and AI-based threat detection—showed the fastest progress at 69.3% (115 out of 166 tasks completed). This was followed by the “Personal Information Protection” area at 63.3% (31 out of 49 completed) and the “Governance and Culture” area at 59.5% (25 out of 42 completed).

Lee Jong-hyun, Head of SKT’s Integrated Security Center (CISO), stated in a CISO message, “As the cyber threat landscape evolves even more rapidly and sophisticatedly through integration with technologies such as AI, corporate security responsibilities and scope are expanding to encompass all aspects of service operations.”

He continued, “To respond to the evolving threat landscape and enhance customer trust, we have re-examined our entire information security framework from a company-wide perspective,” adding, “We will strike a balance between tasks requiring immediate action and the time-consuming but essential efforts to build security infrastructure and strengthen employee capabilities.”

With the publication of this white paper, SKT Corporation plans to more actively share its information security activities with stakeholders and continue making improvements to raise the level of protection that customers can tangibly experience.