KISA Strives to Evolve into Top Cyberspace Security Field

New KISA CEO stresses a focus on the spread of an internet ethics culture to make a beautiful internet world, to protect personal information, and to cope with internet incidents

Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA) President and CEO Simon Suh (Jong Ryeol Suh) said, “KISA will focus on establishing itself into a top-rated organization specializing in protecting individuals’ information, coping with internet incidents and spreading an internet ethics.”
Suh made the remark on Dec. 12 at his first meeting with reporters since he took the helm at KISA last month. “I have a heavy responsibility on my shoulders as KISA president in charge of overseeing such duties as invigorating the internet and protecting information. Protecting individuals’ information and preventing internet incidents, and spreading an internet ethics are set as our priority tasks for next year.”
Following are excerpts of an interview with the KISA president.
Question: How do you feel about your inauguration as KISA president and what is your resolution in this job?
Answer: I assume the heavy responsibility as KISA president. I’ll make flat-out efforts with a sense of responsibility and mission.
I’ll devote myself to transforming KISA into a world-renowned internet and information protection agency, trusted by people, firms and the government. I will also focus on evolving KISA into a creative and innovative organization by enhancing management efficiency and changing it into a jobsite manned by experts.
Q: Does your previous career offer a boon to the development of KISA?
A: My career experiences with telecom providers are helpful in the execution of my current job.
Based on my experiences with telecom providers, I’ll strive to prevent internet incidents and swiftly respond to them through enhanced cooperation with internet service providers (ISPs). In the case such internet accidents as distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) take place, cooperation with ISPs is important, so stepping up cooperation will lead to swift responses. Also, KISA has planned to collaborate together with ISPs to spread an internet ethics culture campaign. We’re going to come up with steps to make it a more cooperative system for protecting information than ever before.
I’ll develop programs to proliferate a public awareness culture toward the internet in cooperation with telecom providers. They will cover a drive to translate the protection of information into action and the spread of an internet ethics culture, making a beautiful internet world.

Q: What’s your impression after receiving business briefs from each division and will you tell our readers about your management strategies?
A: I’m impressed with KISA’s talented manpower and well-organized operation.
I’ll do my best in making KISA into a more creative, active organization by introducing a suggestion system via e-mail and messaging, providing incentives corresponding to performance, reinforcing welfare and benefits to motivate staff and improving the staff’s satisfaction and specialization through self-development and job-related educational programs.
Staff members will be encouraged to have active discussions in order to make meetings specific, not superficial ones. They are going to enhance their capability to get a better understanding of jobs and build common ground with one another so that new things can be made.
Q: What tasks have plagued KISA?
A: Before taking office, I thought KISA was a serene agency, but the staffs are more vibrant and well-organized beyond my expectations. I’ll change KISA into a creative, innovative body through motivation and a change of thinking.
A campaign to pass digital cultural assets down to our descendants needs to be expanded.
I believe that we need to publicize KISA and e-call center 118 so that internet ethics movements can be more effective.
Q: What do you think are KISA’s top priority tasks?
A: The most important task is to make KISA the world’s top-class internet incidents institution by stepping up the specialization of the staff and to make KISA more specialized as well as to boost the staff’s strong points so as to make all of them information security, internet ethics and international cooperation experts.
I’ll strive to make KISA an agency trusted by people, the government and business.
I’ll also focus on transforming KISA into a workplace in which the staff feels happy by building a creative, innovative organizational system.
Q: What’re KISA’s core businesses?
A: On top of the most emphasized core businesses is the task of building internet ethics and a sound culture. So far, internet ethics campaigns have fizzled out as temporary events, but they will be transformed into more organized ones to the extent that digital cultural assets can be bequeathed to descendents. We’ll push ahead with internet ethics campaigns so that they can be more effective by making the most of cartoons, dramas and characters.
Second on the list of core businesses is taking countermeasures against cyberspace attacks. KISA has been charged with preventing and taking measures against internet attack incidents. Business areas in which KISA can do well with specialization will be its mainstay businesses.
Third, KISA will focus on protecting individuals’ information. It is KISA’s own special responsibility, being handled solely by itself.
We plan to aggressively develop policies and technologies to rise to a top internet and information security agency.
Q: What plans are in place to build and develop the right internet culture?
A: In the offline world, insulting and abusive language and defaming others causes trouble, but the handling of such acts are too generous in cyberspace, which tends to spread unfounded rumors at a rapid pace. Online ethics are more important than offline ones.
Making a beautiful world is KISA’s social role and mission of the times. We will continue to implement interministry campaigns to build a “beautiful cyberspace world” every year.
We’ll strive to make Korea a digital country recognized as highly ethical in the Orient. KISA is making all-out efforts to pass on digital ethical culture from father to son, then to grandson, as ethics and lawful orders have been handed over from my grandfather to my father and to me. We’ll explore brand-new ideas to invigorate sound cyberspace discussion forums. Internet ethics campaigns will be staged so as not to spread unfounded rumors, causing serious repercussions to society.
Q: What steps are being taken to ramp up its capability to prevent internet incidents?
A: Manpower, systems and processes are being built to enhance information security capability.
Staff members in the information security division will be asked to promote exchanges and cooperation with global institutions. Malicious code analysts have been augmented in the wake of the so-called 7-7DDos Upheaval that hit the nation last July 7, and manpower exchanges are being promoted, among others.
KISA is working toward building a system corresponding to a top global internet and information security organization by establishing a new cyberspace attack response center, a DDoS detection and response system, a 118 personal information infringement response system, operating a Korea National Biometric Test Center, and upgrading systems to cope with new environments such as smartphone.
We’ll maintain a swift response footing against cyberspace attacks by cooperating with ISPs and forging alliances with foreign institutions. nw

KISA President Simon Suh (Jong Ryeol Suh)

(clockwise) KISA President Suh congratulates KBS’s launch of an interactive multi-language subtitle service.; Suh is awarded with a plaque of appreciation by the Korea Digital Media Industry Association on Nov. 18 in recognition of his contribution to development of IPTV .; KISA President Suh awarded the 5th Korea Internet Awards

KISA Ready for Cyber Attacks
It has built an environment for analyzing information on Internet attacks in a more integrated and systematic fashion

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA) opened a renovated situation room to on 13th December 2010. The Situation Room is intending to act as the coordination center for rapid response to cyber attacks with the integrated and systematic cyber threat information analysis capability.
KISA has monitored 24/7 cyberspace health based since 25 January Internet incident caused by slammer worm outbreak, crippled all internet connect in Korea in 2003.
After 7 years since the original opening of Situation Room, rapid development of technology has outdated the existing countermeasures for cyber attacks. Calls for more active and integrated prevention and response are obvious. KISA has been mandated to cope with evolving cyber attacks, getting ever more intelligent and diverse in their attack methods.

The newly inaugurated Situation Room has been improved enough to detect symptoms of internet attacks by integrating a variety of information on cyber threats, including distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), suspicious changes of internet service providers’ (ISPs) traffic and malicious codes.
It has built an environment for analyzing information on internet attacks in a more integrated and systematic fashion by building a cooperative network with ISPs, anti-virus companies and other internet incidents protection. In particular, the situation of the attacks can be visualized in three dimensions and map data to make a swift judgment of an impending emergency situation.
This Situation Room has been tasked with additional jobs ― Serving as cyberspace shelters against DDoS, Treating PCs infected with diverse malicious codes and viruses and Analyzing reports on responses against internet attacks so as to improve countermeasures against them. As a result, chances are high that such nationwide internet attacks, including the so-called 7.7 DDoS. Upheaval that hit the nation last July 7, can be prevented.
KISA President and CEO, Simon Suh (Jong Ryeol Suh) said in his speech during a ceremony to establish Situation Room, “Internet accidents can be prevented by ramping up their advance analysis, and damages can be minimized by swiftly responding to internet attacks and integrating analyses.” He pledged to overhaul KISA into a globally recognized information security agency by upgrading its capability to respond against internet attacks to the world’s top levels.
Suh called for news agencies and portal companies to be more conscious of cyberspace security on their own because a great portion of internet attacks are staged against them. “The private sector, particularly news agencies and portal companies that are faced with a lot of attacks, have to make investments there,” he said.
KCC Chairman Choi See-Joong said in his congratulatory message, “KISA Situation Room has been established newly to brace for an emerging ‘smart era’ and better respond to ever more sophisticated internet attacks.” He urged KISA to be renewed into the world’s top information security agency by raising its capability to respond to internet attacks in a preemptive manner.
Among those on hand at the opening ceremony were KCC Chairman Choi; Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kim Hee-jung; Oh Hae-suk, special presidential IT secretary; KISA President Suh; KISA Korea Internet Security Center Chief Park; and KT Vice Chairman Suk Ho-ik. nw

Dignitaries attend an ceremony to open a renovated Situation Room at KISA headquarters in Garak-dong, Seoul on Dec. 13. (from left) KISA Korea Internet Security Center chief Park Kwang-jin,; Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kim Hee-jung,; Oh Hae-suk, special presidential IT secretary,; KCC Chairman Choi See-joong,; KISA President Suh,; and KT Vice Chairman Suk Ho-ik. (below photo) Crews at the renovated Situation Room scrutinize movements of internet traffic around the clock.