Security Industry Looking to a Boost by Weekly 5-Day Work System

The information security industry is expecting a boost stemming from the implement of the weekly 5-day work system.

The main target of this industry is the financial sector including banks, which will first introduce the system. The industry predicts that as the number of Internet banking and ATMs is expected to significantly increase, security-related accidents are also expected to rise.

Given that the banking sector began introducing security solutions as early as 2000, about 50% of the market has already been occupied. But the security industry expect an additional demand as some major banks have yet to introduce a security solution, and as the non-banking sector has been increasingly aware of the importance of security.

Future System specialized in establishing virtual private network (VPN) made a contract with Chohung Bank for 100 million won worth of VPN establishment.

The VPN the bank introduced enables executives to get an access to the bank’s system anytime at home.

Lee Eun-ji of Oullim Information Technology, a company that supplied VPN solution to Woori Bank, said, “The reason behind the increasing demand for security solutions is that the public awareness of security has risen, and more and more companies are worried about their security because of the implementation of the 5-day work week system.” She went onto say that the trend is reflected in the sales increase. The company witnessed a 40% increase in sales in the 1st quarter of this year compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Ahn’s Lab provided earlier this month My Firewall, a solution to intercept hacking, for Koram Bank and entered into contracts with 5 credit card companies and insurance companies. The lab is expected to record 20 billion won in additional revenues by the end of this year.

Cho Seok-il, the CEO of Coconut, a security solution provider, said, “Statistics show that the number of hacking cases increases by 15% in holidays. Once the 5-day work week system is implemented, the demand for security service will increase as the likelihood of security accidents becomes higher.”

Chang-Won Kim changkim@donga.com