The Korea Internet & Security Agency building in Seoul / Courtesy of Korea Internet & Security Agency

Korea’s top cybersecurity regulator, the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), said Friday that it will distribute 12 billion won ($8.3 million) to dozens of firms as part of an aggressive push to shore up the nation’s digital defenses against evolving threats.

KISA selected 50 companies to spearhead 18 separate projects under its 2026 New Information Security Technology Support Program. The initiative centers on four "next-generation" security domains, reflecting the growing urgency to subsidize local innovation in an increasingly volatile global cyber landscape.

The program, launched jointly with the Ministry of Science and ICT, targets artificial intelligence (AI)-based security product commercialization, AI security company development, Korean-model integrated security and zero-trust adoption.

Under the AI commercialization track, two consortia were selected through the government-wide AX-Sprint rapid commercialization initiative. A Sands Lab-led group will develop an AI-driven integrated security platform automating threat detection and response across networks and endpoints, while a Kudo Communication-led consortium will build a unified physical security monitoring system capable of linking data across devices of different manufacturers and types.

Nine projects were chosen under the AI security company development track, split between prototype development and commercialization. Prototype recipients include Igloo Corporation, which will build an agentic AI platform for autonomous security operations center functions, and Nurilab, developing an on-device real-time facial authentication and forgery detection solution.

Two projects were selected for Korean-model integrated security development, and five for zero-trust adoption, covering areas including AI-based unified authentication, attack surface management and secure access service edge implementation for high-risk global work environments.

"High-performance AI models present a dual nature — an opportunity to raise security standards and a potential vector for large-scale cyber threats," said a KISA official.

"We will actively support Korea's information security firms in strengthening their AI security capabilities and building competitiveness in the next-generation security market."

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

Source: Korea Times News