Samsung Securities said on the 10th that investor sentiment is highly likely to weaken in the short term for KT due to a recent incident of unauthorized small payments.
Recently, victims of unauthorized small payments have been reported one after another, mainly among KT customers and users on KT's network in certain areas. KT is said to have filed a cyber intrusion report related to the unauthorized small-payment incident with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) on the 8th of this month. The first affected areas confirmed were Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi Province, Geumcheon in Seoul, and Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province.
The incident was first reported on the 27th of last month. Mostly during early-morning hours, mobile gift certificates were purchased without user consent, and 79 cases have been reported so far. The reported damages total 38 million won in Gwangmyeong (61 cases), 7.8 million won in Geumcheon (13 cases), and 4.11 million won in Bucheon (5 cases).
In response, KT implemented customer protection measures such as reducing small-payment limits and strengthening detection of abnormal small-payment patterns. After receiving the reports, the Ministry of Science and ICT and KISA visited KT's headquarters to assess the situation and launched a public-private joint investigation team to determine the cause.
However, the exact route of the damage and the modus operandi have not yet been identified. As the affected areas expand, no commonalities have been found in device models, activation agencies, user age groups, or usage patterns.
A short-term weakening of investor sentiment appears unavoidable. Choi Min-ha, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "Unlike the SK Telecom case, actual monetary damage has occurred, so it is necessary to monitor developments," adding, "The investigation results and whether there is additional response will be important variables for restoring user trust and in terms of expense burden."