[It has been revealed that a free security patch addressing the vulnerability in Microsoft SQL Server had already been provided.]
[Public institutions, financial sectors, and corporations have already implemented security measures such as firewalls and antivirus systems, so additional demand is not expected to be significant.]
[Many security companies are currently operating at a loss, making it difficult to expect immediate improvements in profitability.]
[Most analysts maintain that while the long-term outlook is promising, short-term performance remains negative.]
↳ I went all in because they said it'd make money… now I'm screwed, seriously stuck
↳ It hit the upper limit yesterday, and today it just crashes straight down? Is this for real?
↳ Saw Josangbeom Research drop –5%, and my hands started shaking
↳ Damn, I even used margin to buy more, and now I'm ruined
↳ Life hard mode ON
↳ Crashing right after I bought in—doesn't that cross the line? Seriously…
↳ Someone save me… please…
↳ Do I need to check the Han River water temperature right now, damn it
↳ Where did all those articles praising security stocks go until yesterday? Did they all run away together?
↳ Wow, this is completely fucked
As the internet outage caused by a worm virus attack exploiting vulnerabilities in SQL Server showed signs of rapidly escalating, Microsoft stepped in and began responding aggressively.
Once it became known that a free security patch addressing the vulnerability had already been distributed, the situation shifted dramatically—just as Seok-won had anticipated.
It turned out that the damage had not occurred because SQL Server security measures were inherently inadequate, but because users had failed to install the freely provided security patch. As a result, it became difficult to pursue claims for damages.
Moreover, as news spread that Microsoft had already prepared countermeasures, the stocks of internet security companies—including the Josangbeom Virus Research Institute, which had previously surged to the upper limit on expectations of benefiting from the incident—plummeted sharply.
[Josangbeom Virus Research Institute: 10,210 (23,430)]
[Haduri: 2,000 (2,810)]
.
.
.
[Cyber Secure: 1,930 (2,360)]
Watching the stock prices of internet security companies—ones that had hit the upper limit just the day before—now plunge steeply like a waterfall, Jung Hwan-yeop shook his head.
"Ugh. This is a full-on roller coaster."
Yoo Seok-hyeon, who had recently been promoted to manager, stared at the six monitors on his desk for a long while before finally leaning back in his chair and speaking.
"Seriously. The volatility is so extreme it's enough to make you dizzy."
Manager Hong Jae-hee, wearing glasses without prescription lenses, naturally joined the conversation while holding a cup of coffee he had just made in the break room.
"Honestly, who would've thought things would turn around like this in just a single day?"
"Exactly. Usually, when a theme forms, it lasts at least one or two weeks."
Jung Hwan-yeop nodded as he spoke.
Noh Hee-won, who had once been the youngest member of the Asset Management Division and had now been promoted to associate, stared at the monitor with a regretful expression.
"When they were hitting the upper limit, retail investors piled in like crazy… they're all probably taking heavy losses now."
Jung Hwan-yeop looked at the stock charts of internet security companies—plunging sharply with long bearish candlesticks—and gave a bitter smile.
"If they only invested the money they actually had in their pockets, that's at least somewhat fortunate. But for those who got greedy trying to score big and even used margin… the moment they can't meet the collateral ratio as the stock price falls, they're liquidated immediately. In crude terms, they end up completely wiped out."
At that, Yoo Seok-hyeon continued speaking while keeping his eyes on the monitor.
"If the market closes in a crash like this, then as soon as it opens tomorrow, a flood of forced liquidation orders will pour in, and the stock prices will collapse once again."
"Exactly. As accounts that can't meet the collateral ratio at the lowered stock prices keep getting liquidated over and over, it won't stop until all the retail investors who borrowed money are completely shaken out. Only then will this vicious cycle come to an end."
At Jung Hwan-yeop's remark, delivered with a smacking of his lips, the atmosphere in the office grew heavy.
It was because the image of countless retail investors being completely wiped out and shedding tears of blood naturally came to mind.
Watching the KOSDAQ index—where most of the plunging internet security companies were listed—fall helplessly downward, Hong Jae-hee spoke with a sigh.
"It's a relief we sold off all our internet security stocks yesterday. We almost got stuck holding them, too."
At that, Noh Hee-won shuddered as if the mere thought was horrifying.
"Ugh… if that had happened, we would've been in total chaos trying to cut our losses before it dropped even further."
The other employees who had been listening to the conversation also remained seated at their desks, letting out sighs of relief or clutching their chests, realizing they had narrowly escaped the hellish market crash.
Jung Hwan-yeop leaned back, clasping his hands behind his head as he spoke.
"As expected of the Chairman. The moment he ordered us to sell everything as soon as it hit the upper limit, I had a gut feeling."
At that, Yoo Seok-hyeon let out a small chuckle and replied.
"Weren't you saying yesterday that it was a shame to sell so quickly?"
"You also said it was good news that would last at least a week."
As Hong Jae-hee quickly chimed in as well, Jung Hwan-yeop cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Ahem. Enough with the small talk during trading hours—get back to work."
The employees of the Asset Management Division, including three of them, barely held back their laughter as they responded.
"Yes."
"Understood."
Jung Hwan-yeop shot the two of them a sidelong glance and muttered under his breath.
"Pointlessly good memories, the lot of you…"
Then he turned his gaze back to the monitor, watching as waves of panic selling continued to pour in, further widening the losses of internet security company stocks.
"Seeing how he times his buys and sells this precisely… it really feels like he's got some kind of supernatural touch."
No matter how many times he saw it, the skill was astonishing. Jung Hwan-yeop let out an impressed "Damn…" under his breath.
***
Director Choi Ho-geun, who had come up to the chairman's office, paused mid-report when he noticed Seok-won—who had been listening—suddenly touching one of his ears.
"Seems like someone's talking about me. My ear suddenly feels itchy."
Seok-won let out a small chuckle and lowered his hand.
"Go on."
Standing in front of the desk, Director Choi Ho-geun briefly cleared his throat before continuing his report.
"As instructed, we sold all the internet security stocks we purchased yesterday, securing a profit of 12.75 billion won, with a return of 19.6%."
"Good work."
Seok-won gave a small nod and closed the approval folder he had been holding, setting it down on the desk.
Noticing this, Director Choi Ho-geun stole a glance at him, hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously spoke.
"Did you already know that the situation would reverse in just a day and that the internet security stocks would crash?"
Seok-won lightly shrugged his shoulders as he answered.
"I didn't expect it to end in just a single day, but I did figure the surge wouldn't last long."
Meeting Director Choi Ho-geun's surprised gaze, he continued speaking in a calm tone.
"I saw news reports saying it followed a pattern similar to the Code Red virus attack from a couple of years ago, and it made me wonder—would Microsoft, the world's largest software company, really have been completely unprepared?"
"...."
"So I looked into it more closely, and it turned out they had already created a free patch to fix the SQL Server vulnerability and uploaded it to their website last year."
"I see."
Seok-won rested his elbow on the desk and propped his chin on his hand.
"Besides, all it really did was cause a surge in traffic and make internet access difficult. It's not like this incident caused serious damage by destroying files or systems."
"That's true."
Director Choi Ho-geun nodded.
"The reason people felt even more confusion and shock compared to 2001 is probably that the attack was far more widespread—and, more importantly, because the internet has become deeply embedded in everyday life since then."
Since internet usage had indeed increased significantly, Director Choi Ho-geun nodded in agreement.
"In particular, the damage was especially severe in our country, not only because of the relatively high dependence on the problematic SQL Server, but also due to low security awareness—many cases were left unpatched instead of being updated regularly. On top of that, the widespread use of pirated copies rather than legitimate licenses also played a part."
Director Choi Ho-geun smacked his lips.
"If they weren't using legitimate software, it would've been difficult to even receive the patch in the first place."
"Exactly. Those kinds of vulnerabilities piled up and ended up making the situation worse."
Seok-won tapped the desk lightly with his fingers as he continued speaking.
"The surge in internet security company stocks reflected both the anxiety that incidents like this could happen again and the expectation that their revenues would increase from the spillover benefits."
"That's correct."
"But the SQL Server issue can be easily resolved simply by installing the patch already distributed by Microsoft. That means the likelihood of governments, financial institutions, and corporations significantly increasing their security spending is low—so in the end, the bubble is bound to burst."
"Even so, since this incident has heightened awareness about internet security, couldn't it serve as an opportunity for public institutions and companies to expand their security investments?"
"That's a good point. After such a major incident, it would be truly foolish to just move on without any follow-up measures."
"Then even if expectations have cooled for now, isn't there still a possibility that revenues could increase in the long term?"
"As internet usage continues to grow, the overall size of the security market will expand, so revenues will likely increase. However, it won't be easy for smaller domestic companies to benefit and grow from it."
"Why do you think that is?"
"Because financial institutions and corporations would prefer to entrust their security operations to large, reliable foreign companies like Microsoft rather than relatively small domestic firms."
Seok-won continued speaking in a calm tone.
"Companies like Microsoft can bundle security together with their existing services, such as Windows and Office, into a single contract. That makes the process simpler and also reduces costs."
He looked at Director Choi Ho-geun standing in front of him.
"Of course, government agencies have various reasons that make it difficult to outsource security work to foreign companies, so they could increase revenue by winning government contracts. But that alone clearly limits their growth. On top of that, if conglomerates see their security workload increase, they'll simply establish dedicated affiliates to handle it and funnel internal demand to them. That means the position of existing small-scale companies will inevitably shrink even further."
There were quite a few venture companies in Korea with outstanding skills and strong ambition, but unlike in the United States, they rarely grew into giant IT corporations like Microsoft, Apple, or Amazon. Most of them were eliminated along the way—and the reason was precisely these invisible barriers.
Even securing the initial investment funding was difficult, and just when they managed to grow their businesses, large conglomerates would step in and try to take a share. Because of this, it was extremely rare for small startups to significantly increase their company value and grow into unicorn companies like those in the U.S.
Director Choi Ho-geun was well aware of this uncomfortable truth as well, and he couldn't hide his bitterness as he nodded.
Seok-won lightly moved his hand, as if to change the mood.
"By the way, what happened with the ST Group matter we talked about before?"
Director Choi Ho-geun responded immediately.
"As instructed, we have completed the acquisition of a 1% stake in ST Co., Ltd."
"Good work. For now, don't make any additional purchases—just monitor the stock's movement."
"Understood."
Seok-won picked up the approval folder and held it out toward Director Choi Ho-geun.
"If there's nothing more to discuss, you can head out."
"Yes, sir."
Director Choi Ho-geun bowed deeply, then took the approval folder and turned to leave the room.
Once the door closed and he was alone, Seok-won sank deeply into his cushioned chair.
'The stage is all set… now I just have to wait for things to unfold.'