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Government to go into preparation overdrive in coming days to counter US tariff blowback
'An uber-creative firecracker': Tributes as film star Val Kilmer dies aged 65
'An uber-creative firecracker': Tributes as film star Val Kilmer dies aged 65
A customer stands in front of ATMs at a branch of Shinhan Bank in Seoul, after the bank's computer networks were paralysed in a suspected attack. Ahn Young-joon/AP
South Korea
South Korean broadcasters and banks hit in suspected cyber attack
Immediate suspicion has turned to North Korea, which last week accused the South of taking its own websites offline.
THE SOUTH KOREAN military has issued an alert about a possible high-level cyber attack, after computer networks crashed at major broadcasters and banks, with initial suspicions focused on North Korea.
The Korea Internet Security Agency said computer networks at three TV broadcasters – KBS, MBC and YTN – had been “partially or entirely crippled”, as were systems at the Shinhan and Nonghyup banks.
“An investigation is under way. Right now we cannot say whether they were attacked by hackers,” an agency spokesman told AFP, adding that Internet service provider LG Uplus had also reported a network crash.
While there was no immediate confirmation of who or what was behind the multiple shutdown that occurred around 2pm local time (5am Irish time), the main finger of suspicion is likely to point at Pyongyang.
Wednesday’s crash came days after North Korea accused South Korea and the United States of being behind a “persistent and intensive” hacking assault that took a number of its official websites offline for nearly two days.
The North was believed to be behind two major cyber attacks in 2009 and 2011 that targeted South Korean government agencies and financial institutions, causing their networks to crash.
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Threat alert status raised two notches in succession
The South Korean Defence Ministry said it had raised its five-level “Infocon” cyber threat alert status from level 4 to level 3.
The Infocon level was only recently raised from 5 to 4 (with one being the top level) with military tensions on the Korean peninsula at their highest level for years following the North’s nuclear test last month.
“We do not rule out the possibility of North Korea being involved, but it’s premature to say so. It will take time to figure out,” Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said.
The presidential Blue House said the National Security Advisor had been briefed by police on Wednesday’s network paralysis and his office was investigating the possible causes.
According to intelligence officials cited by South Korean media, North Korea is believed to have a cyber warfare unit staffed by around 3,000 people handpicked for their computer literacy.
The Korea Internet Security Agency said it had recorded 40,000 cases of cyber attacks from foreign and domestic sources in 2012, up sharply from 24,000 in 2008.
“South Korea is an IT superpower with good infrastructure but remains relatively vulnerable to hacking,” Park Soon-Tai, manager of the agency’s hacking response team, told AFP in a recent interview.
Joe
Good morning. I have been to both and lived in one for two years. I’m sure you’re acting the troll with that statement because The North is a very very ugly place with its citizens living as virtual prisoners and starving to death while the State looks after its too cadres and nuclear scientists. This country has enslaved its people for the benefit of one single family.
actually that was a bit of irony Stewie..I lived inSouth Korea myself in 2001-2002. It’s no surprise to me that it’s just about the only place in the world where the cold war is still going on. Don’t know about the south, only saw it across the DMZ from a safe distance, but i couldn’t get out of south Korea quick enough( had to fulfill contract)A horrible culture. Nasty people. I’m sure they’re not all like that, must have just been a lot of the ones i was in contact with..
North Korea have been pretty consistent with what they have said. That’s not in any way to defend NK but it’s a pretty incomplete picture being painted by this story to not include it as speculative possibility at least.
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