SKT to adopt SIM card fortmatting

[Anchor]

SK Telecom, which has faced criticism for failing to timely replace SIM cards after the customer information breach, has introduced an additional solution.

It is not a SIM card replacement, but a SIM 'formatting'.

Reporter Kim Min-cheol has investigated what this method entails and whether there are any security issues.

[Report]

Following the hacking incident, there has been a SIM card crisis everywhere.

Amidst a shortage of supply, only 5% of users have completed their SIM card replacements so far.

In response, SKT has proposed a 'SIM formatting' solution that can achieve the same effect without physically replacing the SIM card.

This method allows users to keep their existing SIM card while only modifying some of the user identification authentication information within the SIM.

[Ryu Jeong-hwan/SKT Network Infrastructure Center Director: "We are changing some values of the SIM through a software method. It has the same effect as actually replacing the SIM...."]

Since only some information of the existing SIM changes, there is no need to reset contacts, financial certificates, etc., unlike when replacing the entire SIM.

During this process, the core information values of the hacked data will also change, leading to an analysis that this will be a meaningful countermeasure.

[Yeom Heung-ryeol/Soonchunhyang University Information Security Professor: "(The leaked) existing SIM information becomes pretty useless data from the hacker's perspective. So this will be one of the fundamental treatment measures...."]

However, similar to the actual SIM replacement method, users must visit T World after receiving a replacement message to receive the formatting service.

If desired, users can still choose to replace the SIM as before.

[Lim Bong-ho/SKT MNO Division Head: "If you choose the SIM formatting, we plan to offer one free SIM replacement later."]

SKT expects to secure about 10 million SIM cards by next month, ensuring that the scheduled replacement timeline will proceed without issues.

This is KBS News, Kim Min-cheol.