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South Korea's state-run Financial Security Institute (FSI) reported a data leak following a hacking attack targeting its security assessment system, officials said Tuesday. The FSI, which oversees financial information protection, confirmed on November 9 that some information related to financial firms' security status was leaked from its 'information protection regular evaluation' site, and reported it to the Financial Services Commission and other authorities. The leak comes amid a hacking spree that has hit the financial sector for over a month, with more than 470,000 personal data records leaked from 37 financial firms and funds stolen estimated at 1 billion won ($745,000), according to the financial regulator. Mirae Asset Securities also saw information of about 39,000 customers and employees leaked, prompting an on-site inspection by the Financial Supervisory Service. Major banks are sharply increasing cybersecurity budgets for 2027, with some planning to spend more than 100 billion won ($74 million) on information security. Korean media outlets describe the FSI as the 'gatekeeper' of financial security, with Kyunghyang Shinmun noting the breach of such an institution is expected to have a major impact. SM Entertainment also experienced a data breach due to an external hacking attack, resulting in the leakage of personal information, announced on November 8.