SK moves to block Internet attacks
Source: Agencies |
June 15, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea is scrambling to protect its computer systems after attacks against government agencies and financial institutions exposed vulnerabilities in a country that has the deepest Internet penetration anywhere.
A large government task force is working on a cyber security master plan to address the threats, and officials said they would allocate fresh budgets and personnel to boost protection of national economic and industrial installations.
Governments, multinational corporations and global institutions are facing a rash of attacks on their computer systems.
"Ensuring cyber security is no longer a matter of choice but is an issue of top priority that impacts national security," an official at the nation's communications watchdog said.
Several government agencies including the presidential Blue House and the national spy agency saw their computer networks slowed or crippled for several hours in an attack in 2009 where malicious codes flooded the network with fake access requests.
A similar attack recurred in March, although the impact was limited after government and private online security experts tracked and disabled the software.
Nonghyup, a large commercial bank, suffered a massive network failure in April that affected millions of users, exposing vulnerabilities of the thousands of financial institutions and utilities that rely heavily on networks to keep Asia's fourth largest economy rolling.
South Korean prosecutors said North Korean computer hackers were responsible for bringing down the network of the Nonghyup, calling it "an unprecedented act of cyber terror." North Korea denied the charge.
A large government task force is working on a cyber security master plan to address the threats, and officials said they would allocate fresh budgets and personnel to boost protection of national economic and industrial installations.
Governments, multinational corporations and global institutions are facing a rash of attacks on their computer systems.
"Ensuring cyber security is no longer a matter of choice but is an issue of top priority that impacts national security," an official at the nation's communications watchdog said.
Several government agencies including the presidential Blue House and the national spy agency saw their computer networks slowed or crippled for several hours in an attack in 2009 where malicious codes flooded the network with fake access requests.
A similar attack recurred in March, although the impact was limited after government and private online security experts tracked and disabled the software.
Nonghyup, a large commercial bank, suffered a massive network failure in April that affected millions of users, exposing vulnerabilities of the thousands of financial institutions and utilities that rely heavily on networks to keep Asia's fourth largest economy rolling.
South Korean prosecutors said North Korean computer hackers were responsible for bringing down the network of the Nonghyup, calling it "an unprecedented act of cyber terror." North Korea denied the charge.
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