External hacker suspected in Nonghyup network crash

External hacker suspected in Nonghyup network crash. April. 15, 2011 05:51. dawn@donga.com cha@donga.com.

Prosecutors have begun an investigation into the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, also called Nonghyup or NH Bank, which has suffered a major network crash. The Financial Supervisory Service will start a probe into this as early as Friday.

Prosecutors said Thursday that they suspect an outside hacker disrupted Nonghyup’s network system. The federation has yet to pinpoint the cause of the crash since the incident occurred three days ago.

The network has not been fully recovered yet, increasing the damage to its 30 million customers.

A cyber crime investigative team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors` Office said Thursday that it confiscated an IBM Korea employee’s laptop and relevant electronic records. Prosecutors say an expert hacker probably accessed the bank server via this laptop because the laptop was connected to the external Internet for 24 hours.

Though the IBM Korea employee, the owner of the laptop, is the first to be suspected when the server breaks down, prosecutors say the employee is not likely guilty given the employee’s track record and no hacking background.

Prosecutors did not rule out that the disruption was caused by an insider. They are reportedly checking if an insider other than the IBM employee used the laptop, which was used to destroy bank servers.