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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] South Korea’s government is deliberating potential measures as concerns mount over alleged vulnerabilities in LG Uplus’ subscriber identity system, raising questions about user privacy and network security.
According to the National Assembly on March 22, Choi Woo-hyuk, Director General for Network Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said during a briefing to Rep. Kim Jang-gyeom on March 20 that the government would “review specific plans from LG Uplus and examine them in light of previous cases.”
His remarks suggest that measures similar to those imposed on SK Telecom—such as recommending a suspension of new subscriptions during last year’s USIM replacement process—could also be considered for LG Uplus.
At the center of the controversy is LG Uplus’ continued use of a phone number-based IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) assignment system since the commercialization of LTE, a structure that has reportedly remained in place until recently.
A report submitted to Rep. Choi Min-hee, chair of the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, warned that such a system could allow tracking of subscriber movements through the use of fake base station equipment. While the report noted that the overall risk of privacy infringement may not be excessive, it nonetheless raised the need for potential USIM replacement.
The government’s awareness of the issue also appears to have come relatively late. Choi said the matter was first recognized during a meeting with Rep. Choi’s office in February.
He added that although LG Uplus had been subject to inspections during last year’s hacking incidents involving SK Telecom and KT, those reviews focused primarily on cybersecurity threats such as backdoors, and did not examine the IMSI structure or its linkage to phone numbers.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
