MESSAGE
| DATE | 2013-03-20 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Korean cyberwar
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Welcome to the very very dangerous 21st century
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/world/asia/south-korea-computer-network-crashes.html?_r=0
South Korea Banks and Broadcasters Hit by Possible Cyberattack
By CHOE SANG-HUN
SEOUL, South Korea — The police were investigating the possibility
of a North Korean cyberattack on Wednesday after the computer networks
of three broadcasters and three banks in South Korea were paralyzed. The
government braced for more possible disruption, authorities said.
Two television stations KBS and MBC, whose computers were affected,
broadcast normally but said that hundreds of their computers were
frozen. The cable channel YTN reported a similar problem.
Shinhan Bank reported that its Internet banking servers had been blocked
temporarily. Technicians were able to restore operations, the
government’s Financial Services Commission said in a statement.
Two other banks, NongHyup and Jeju, reported that operations at some of
their branches were paralyzed after computers were “affected with
virus and their files erased,” the commission said. A fourth bank,
Woori, reported a hacking attack but suffered no damage.
The government, the military and the countries’ nuclear power plants
reported no disruptions. But they said they were putting their computer
technicians on a higher alert against possible hacking attempts,
following North Korea’s threat of unspecified
“counteractions” against South Korea for supporting a tightening
of United Nations sanctions against the North following its recent
nuclear test.
The police did not immediately establish a link between the simultaneous
shutdowns on Wednesday and North Korea. But the incidents came five days
after North Korea blamed South Korea and the United States for
cyberattacks that temporarily shut down Web sites in Pyongyang last
week.
North Korea suspected the allies of hacking its Web sites as part of the
joint military exercises they have been conducting since early this
month. North Korea ?will never remain a passive onlooker to the
enemies? cyberattacks that have reached a very grave phase as part
of their moves to stifle it,? the North? official Korean
Central News Agency said Friday.
Tensions remain high after North Korea recently issued a torrent of
threats, including warnings of a ?pre-emptive nuclear
attack? at the United States and South Korea, as retaliation
against the joint military drills and new U.N. sanctions imposed because
of the North? Feb. 12 nuclear test.
North Korea keeps an army of hackers trained to disrupt South Korea,
where government operations and daily life depend greatly on its
broadband Internet, South Korean officials said. North Korean hackers
have been blamed for crashing the Web sites of government agencies and
businesses in recent years, including a server at a state-run bank. Last
May, South Korea accused the North of jamming signals, forcing hundreds
of commercial flights to switch off their global positioning systems.
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