Two interesting(?) products emerged from KT Chairman Hwang Chang-kyu's pocket. Every time Chairman Hwang took out a product, numerous camera flashes emitted light simultaneously from all directions.

The 'Wiz Stick' he showed was highlighted as a product capable of "fundamentally solving personal security risks," and the portable set-top box was introduced as a device that enables innovative media services whenever and wherever desired.

On the morning of the 23rd, a press conference was held at Olleh Square in the KT Gwanghwamun Building on Sejong-ro, Seoul, to mark the 130th anniversary of telecommunications in Korea and to announce a new future vision.

Will the personal IPS, 'Wiz Stick,' really be the solution to security risks?

At the event, Chairman Hwang highlighted the convergence between ICT and industry brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, predicting that the convergence of ICT based on powerful networks will become a new growth engine for industry, just as the steam engine in the First Industrial Revolution, electricity in the Second, and computers in the Third did.

In response to this, Chairman Hwang announced plans to build an 'Intelligent GiGA Infra' based on differentiated technological capabilities to respond to the revolutionary changes that will occur in industry and daily life based on ICT. Intelligent Giga Infrastructure made a surprise announcement that it would invest 13 trillion won by 2020 in intelligent Giga infrastructure and future growth businesses, with the goal of providing greater value to users by combining with cutting-edge monitoring, cloud, big data, etc.

Emphasizing that future infrastructure must possess value beyond speed, capacity, and connectivity—specifically, "Intelligent"—he introduced KT's "Wiz Stick," "GiGA Office," and "Private LTE" to illustrate the necessity of "Intelligent Infrastructure."

The 'Wiz Stick,' unveiled by Chairman Hwang as a 'secret weapon,' is a network-based portable security platform developed by KT as the world's first of its kind. Characterized by its ability to fundamentally block issues such as access to phishing sites and webcam hacking at the network level, the Wiz Stick supports sophisticated security features that enable Single Sign-On authentication without the need for a separate ID or password by utilizing fingerprint recognition.

KT expressed its ambition to generate over 1 trillion won in revenue in the domestic security service market of approximately 10 trillion won in 2020 by continuously developing differentiated security solutions, such as the Wiz Stick scheduled for commercialization at the end of this year, and to actively target the global security service market estimated at 285 trillion won.

Curiosity about the Wiz Stick grew as much as the magnitude of KT's confidence. First, there was confusion regarding the precise terminology of the Wiz Stick itself: "portable security platform." It was difficult to distinguish whether it was a simple hardware security device or a computer security device. When I asked the product introduction staff what to call it, they kindly told me that it is easy to understand if you think of it as a 'Personal IPS (Intrusion Prevention System).'

Was I the only one who felt worried at the claim that carrying just one device similar to KT's Egg (a terminal that connects with WiBro equipment) would eliminate concerns about personal network security?

Unlike software-based security solutions, the Wiz Stick is positioned between the PC and the network, which is said to prevent security threats at their source. However, since it is a fingerprint recognition-based device, there must be a procedure to register fingerprints with various banks or shopping malls that are linked to the Wiz Stick. In other words, it is necessary to secure a customer base to connect with the Wiz Stick.

This implies that KT is more confident than any other company because it already has a secured network infrastructure. Furthermore, they expressed confidence that the solution is unparalleled by any other company, as it incorporates KT's advanced security technology.

Also, on this day, a next-generation media set-top box equipped with Samsung Electronics' mobile chipset—the world's first of its kind—was revealed from Chairman Hwang's pocket. The next-generation set-top box has been reduced in size to one-quarter while doubling its performance and reducing power consumption by 70%. He stated that thanks to its excellent portability, users can enjoy their desired media services anytime, anywhere, as long as they are connected to a network.

Two small terminals in Chairman Hwang's pocket, born from KT's future ICT vision. While this may be just the beginning, attention is focused on how next-generation products such as the Wiz Stick and portable set-top boxes will keep the spark of the Fourth Industrial Revolution alive.