Press Releases

After SKT Hacking, Malicious Apps Impersonating 'Korea Consumer Agency' Increase

2025.05.26

Security company Everspin announced today (26th) that since the cyber breach incident at SK Telecom last month, new malicious apps impersonating organizations like the 'Korea Consumer Agency' and 'Smart Safe' have been discovered. Everspin revealed this in an internal report covering monitoring results from the past 2-3 weeks through its malicious app detection solution 'FakeFinder.' In particular, it was found that the detection frequency of apps impersonating the Korea Consumer Agency rose sharply in early May, right after the SK Telecom incident. Everspin explained, "While similar-named malicious apps were continuously detected in the past, the recent figures are clearly interpreted as organized distribution taking advantage of a specific issue." Previously, the company disclosed cases where malicious apps impersonating the "Damage Relief Bureau" or "SK shieldus" were installed alongside remote control apps amidst the confusion from the SK Telecom hacking. In the detection results for the 1st and 2nd weeks of this month, tactics of stealing names of actual security companies like "AnyDesk" and "ALZip" were frequently seen, similar to the initial period. Everspin emphasized, "We are currently sharing info on related malicious apps and installation patterns with relevant organizations in real-time and are closely monitoring to prevent damage," adding, "Since voice phishing evolves rapidly according to social issues, continuous attention and vigilance are more important than anything else." To proactively prevent the expansion of financial phishing accidents that surged after the SK Telecom hacking, Everspin plans to roll out 'RTAS' (Real-time Threat Alarm Service), which allows device info to be shared in real-time with other financial institutions for proactive blocking if a malicious app is detected at one of the financial institutions that implemented FakeFinder.