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Ex-White House official highlights need for intelligence sharing to prevent cyberattacks

Published: 27 May. 2025, 18:59

This photo, provided by the Federation of Korean Industries, shows Anne Neuberger, former U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, speaking at a cybersecurity seminar in Seoul on May 27. [YONHAP]

A former White House cybersecurity official on Tuesday stressed the need for enhanced intelligence sharing and corporate coordination in Korea in response to a recent hacking incident involving SK Telecom, the country's largest mobile carrier.

Anne Neuberger, former U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, also suggested that Chinese actors may have been involved in the incident, noting a history of past Chinese penetrations targeting telecom companies around the world.

“What I will say is that China has had a program of compromising telecoms around the world — in the United States, in countries in Europe and in Australia,” the former Biden administration official said at a cybersecurity seminar hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries in Seoul.

SK Telecom, with 25 million subscribers out of a population of 50 million, detected the cyberattack on April 18 and discovered signs of a large-scale leak of customers' SIM data. The incident is considered the worst hacking case in the nation's telecommunications history.

Neuberger said such intrusions could serve various objectives, including espionage or pre-positioning for disruption during a national crisis.

“If China launches cyberattacks, or in some cases puts malware and malicious software in those systems, the purpose could be espionage, for example, tracking travelers,” she said. “But when it's prepositioned in infrastructure, like water systems or ports, it could be to enable China to disrupt those systems in a period of crisis or conflict.”

Customers wait in a long line to replace their SIM cards in front of an official SK Telecom retailer in Seoul on May 20. [YONHAP]

Neuberger emphasized three lessons from her time at the U.S. National Security Agency and the White House — rapid intelligence sharing by governments, private sector collaboration across competitors and international partnerships.

“Organizations like SK can bring companies together, CEOs and heads of technology, to privately and quietly share what they are seeing with regard to threats and what are the most effective defenses,” she said. “And governments should rapidly share intelligence with those companies.”

She encouraged Korea to continue participating in initiatives including cooperation with the United States and Japan and the Counter Ransomware Initiative, a 71-country cybercooperation platform.

Neuberger further warned of the broader escalation of cyberthreats not only from states like China, Russia and Iran, but also from criminal groups that disrupt critical infrastructure to extort money

“In the United States, we have had a significant rise in disruptive attacks against hospitals by criminals who seek to make money because they know that hospitals will pay to avoid disrupting life,” she said.

Yonhap