The government will foster next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) security corporations.
Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) said on the 8th that, together with the Ministry of Science and ICT, it has selected 50 corporations to carry out 18 next-generation security product and service development projects and will push ahead in earnest with the 2026 new information security technology support program.
The government will invest a total of 12.04 billion won in this program. KISA explained the background for the push, saying that "concerns are growing that recent high-performance AI technology could be misused for cyberattacks."
To preemptively respond to such threats, the government invited proposals for 18 projects across four areas—commercialization of AI-based next-generation security products, nurturing AI security corporations, development of a Korea-style integrated security model, and introduction of zero trust—and selected a total of five performing corporations by last month.
For the AI-based next-generation security product commercialization support program, proposals were invited for a total of two projects in the information security and physical security fields. The information security project is to develop an integrated security platform that uses AI to automate threat detection, analysis, and response across all parts of a system. A consortium led by SANDS Lab was selected as the performing corporation. Genians, Logpresso, SOMA, and Axleighter are also participating in the consortium.
The physical security project is to develop an integrated control system that prevents and responds to physical security threats. A consortium led by Kudo Communication was selected for this project. The consortium includes Dtonic, Shinhwa System, Chung-Ang University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
Corporations selected to carry out the zero trust introduction pilot project include SK shieldus, MLsoft, 101, PNP Secure, Penta Security, INITECH, 2e Consulting, Logpresso, S2W, Private Technology, WINS Technet, and AI Spera.
Corporations participating in the security corporation nurturing support program include NuriLab, IGLOO Corporation, Enki WhiteHat, Sparrow, and Tertn.
KISA plans to support the selected corporations so they can raise the technical completeness of AI security products and services through project execution and, through verification and commercialization, build a foundation for entering domestic and overseas markets.
Oh Jin-young, head of KISA's Security Industry Division, said, "High-performance AI models are both an opportunity to raise security levels and a double-edged sword that could lead to large-scale cyber threats," adding, "We will actively support domestic information security corporations in strengthening their AI security capabilities and securing competitiveness in the next-generation security market."