SK Telecom's path to full trust restoration remains long after hacking incident… Corporate trust recovery rate stands at just 64%

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Although SK Telecom has implemented measures such as customer protection, compensation, and enhanced security following a large-scale cyber intrusion incident in April last year, it appears the company still has a long way to go before restoring customer trust to pre-incident levels. While assessments of the company's sincerity have recovered significantly, the recovery rate of trust in the corporation itself reached only 64% of the decline observed immediately after the incident. This indicates that the distrust left by the incident has not yet been fully resolved.

At the "2026 CS WISE Insight" seminar held on the 11th at Seoul Yeouido FKI Tower, Kim Seung-beom, a professor in the Department of Business Administration at Hongik University, presented these analytical findings in a paper titled "Research on Customer Trust Recovery: A Case Study of SK Telecom," organized by Korea Management Association Consulting (KMAC).

The study comprehensively analyzed survey data and line change volumes from a total of 600 respondents, including 400 customers who continued to use SK Telecom after the incident and 200 customers who churned.

According to the research results, the recovery rate of customer evaluations that declined after the incident was highest for the company's sincerity at 90%. Attitude toward customers recovered by 81%, reputation among peers by 80%, and company capability by 73%. In contrast, the trust recovery rate in the corporation itself remained at 64%.

Here, the recovery rate does not refer to the proportion of all customers who evaluated positively, but rather a figure indicating how much the evaluations that dropped immediately after the incident have recovered relative to pre-incident levels.

While evaluations of measures implemented after the incident, such as customer protection and compensation, have improved, there remains a gap before customers can judge that they can once again entrust their personal information and communication services to SK Telecom with peace of mind.

All 11 crisis response measures promoted by SK Telecom after the incident received positive evaluations from a majority of respondents.

The measure receiving the highest evaluation was the free replacement and reconfiguration of USIM cards, which 76% of retained SK Telecom customers rated positively. This was followed by waiver and refund of early termination fees at 72%, and expansion of the USIM Protection Service at 71%. Free USIM replacement also ranked first with 30% as the measure most helpful for trust recovery.

Daily briefings conducted over approximately two months received a positive evaluation rate of 68%, while a 50% discount on communication fees, reorganization of the information protection organization, and information protection investment plans received positive evaluations of 67%, 65%, and 64%, respectively.

However, these evaluations are strictly assessments of post-incident response by customers. It is necessary to separately verify whether security investment plans or organizational restructuring have actually led to improved security levels. From the customer's perspective, objective evidence that a similar incident will not recur is more important than the scale of investment or organizational changes.

The study found that customers who were more aware of crisis response measures experienced a greater recovery in trust. However, informing customers about measures implemented by the company and customers actually feeling safe are separate issues.

SK Telecom stated that it is gathering customer opinions through the operation of a Customer Trust Committee, a Customer Advisory Board, and Customer Trust Strengthening Meetings. The company explained that this year, it operated mobile services in 87 counties and cities nationwide across 730 sessions, communicating with approximately 35,000 customers.

However, the frequency of contact with customers or the track record of meeting operations does not prove security capabilities. Companies that have experienced personal information breach incidents must transparently disclose how they improved their security systems and what results were confirmed through external verification.

In particular, it was analyzed that for the return of customers who churned after the incident, objective proof of security improvements is crucial, in addition to competitive rate conditions and sufficient compensation.

In this survey, regarding items that should be prioritized for improvement in the event of a similar future incident, compensation commensurate with damages ranked highest at 37%. This was followed by rapid provision of protective measures at 32%, information protection investment and security strengthening at 28%, and rapid notification of incident facts at 25%.

This shows that customers are still demanding substantive damage remediation and security strengthening.

SK Telecom has emphasized that it achieved first place in all three major domestic customer satisfaction surveys this year, including NCSI, KS-SQI, and KCSI. However, general service satisfaction and trust in the ability to safely protect personal information are different matters. It is difficult to conclude that security trust damaged by the hacking incident has been restored solely based on an increase in service satisfaction.

Ultimately, the challenge SK Telecom must overcome goes beyond merely raising the customer trust recovery rate. The company must demonstrate how faithfully it has fulfilled its responsibility for the incident and how substantially it has improved its security system.

What customers want is not corporate messages announcing crisis response achievements, but the assurance that their personal information will no longer be exposed to risk. For genuine trust recovery, verifiable security improvements and continuous fulfillment of responsibility must take precedence over promotional achievements.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original