Don't Miss

[CNET] S. Korea’s government hit with 114,000 cyberattacks in 5 years

September 21, 2015

Seoul, South Korea (Yonhap)

South Korea may have the fastest Internet speed in the world, but it looks like the country needs to ramp up its security. South Korea’s government has been hit by more than 110,000 cyberattacks in the past five years.

Im Su-kyung, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration & Security committee, made the findings of the organisation’s report public on Friday. Filtering data given to it by the National Computing & Information Agency (NCIA), the National Assembly’s report compiled 114,035 detected cyberattacks committed against government organisations from 2011 to June of this year.

“Cyberattack” generally refers to any attempt made by hackers to damage or destroy a computer system or network, however the figures above don’t include attempted hacks that were automatically filtered out by the web security systems of the targeted government agencies. It also excludes numbers recorded by South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and its National Intelligence Service, which are not kept by the NCIA.

Almost none of the attacks showed a North Korean IP address, although it’s not difficult for hackers to hide their origin. In 2013 there were three cases that involved an IP from North Korea, and in 2012 there were just two. Despite this, South Korea has pointed the finger at North Korea following various cyberattacks in recent years.

[READ MORE]