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Hacking attempts made on 30 computers of defense acquisition agency

Hacking attempts made on 30 computers of defense acquisition agency

Posted January. 15, 2019 07:37,   

Updated January. 15, 2019 07:37

한국어

It has been turned out that 30 computers installed on the internal system of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, in charge of arms procurement such as next-generation fighter jets, have come under simultaneous virtual attacks and 10 out of them saw internal data leaked. As cyberattacks have continued on major Korean foreign affairs facilities including the Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, the National Assembly and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, concerns are ever increasing regarding the government’s cyber security capabilities.

The National Intelligence Service reported to the arms procurement agency on suspicious traffic on its IP server on Oct. 26 last year, according to reports released by Rep. Lee Jong-myung, a Liberty Korea Party member at the National Defense Committee, on Monday. It has been investigated that hacking attempts were made on 30 computers, 10 of which were compromised. Hackers may have been aware that data on the agency’s computers are kept encrypted and stored for 30 days, according to reports. The first attack was carried out on Oct. 4, which almost coincides with a virtual assault on Liberty Korea Party Rep. Baek Seung-joo’s email account. Given this, there is a possibility that a certain hacking group penetrated into systems of Korea’s major facilities simultaneously. The arms procurement agency concluded last November that internal investigations turned out that not any confidential data was compromised.

"It is dubious whether the agency issued a conclusion to conceal damage and minimize the scope of penetration," Rep. Lee pointed out. "Further investigation to find out if the source of attacks is North Korea or any other party." An intelligence agent said that further review will be executed on extra countermeasures for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s systems, which are vulnerable to virtual attack.


Kwan-Seok Jang jks@donga.com