7 Korean Crypto Exchanges Pass Government Security Inspection

The South Korean government has released the results of its security inspection of cryptocurrency exchanges. Only seven of them passed all 85 of the inspection points. Fourteen previously-inspected exchanges still have not improved and 17 new crypto exchanges did not meet security standards.

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Only Seven Exchanges Passed

South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT announced the results of its security inspection of cryptocurrency exchanges on Thursday, according to local media.

In collaboration with the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA), the ministry inspected a total of 38 exchanges between September and December last year. Twenty-one of them were previously inspected between January and March last year while 17 exchanges were inspected for the first time.

Following the previous inspection, recommendations were given to the 21 exchanges to improve certain security measures. Seven of them have since made the necessary improvements and met all 85 items on the inspectors’ checklist. The 85 items checked “include system security such as administrative security, network separation and account management … and virtual currency wallet management,” Money Today elaborated.

The seven exchanges that passed the inspection are Upbit, Bithumb, Gopax, Korbit, Coinone, Hanbitco, and Huobi Korea. An official of the Ministry of Science and ICT was quoted by Newsprime as saying:

Most of them have weak security except for the seven facilities that satisfy all 85 inspection items.

Most Exchanges Need to Improve

Most of the cryptocurrency exchanges inspected did not meet basic security standards. The 14 previously-inspected exchanges have not made the required improvements, government officials told reporters.

These 14 exchanges showed that they still need to improve on 51 security items on average, so they “could be exposed to the risk of hacking attacks at all times,” Zdnet Korea noted. As for the 17 new crypto exchanges, the news outlet added that their “overall security level was found to be weak.” Newsprime elaborated:

By examining 85 items of the basic security requirements for 17 newly identified exchanges, it has been confirmed that the security level [of these exchanges] is generally weak due to the lack of 61 [security] items on average.

The news outlet further detailed, “In particular, it has been confirmed that most of the dealers have a low level of security such as network separation and access control as well as the lack of establishment and management of security systems such as basic PC and network security.” The ministry said it will continue to review and inspect crypto exchanges for security flaws, with a focus on protecting investors from hacking incidents.

What do you think of only seven crypto exchanges passing the Korean government security inspection? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the Korean government.

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