Police officers from National Police Agency show a seized computer which was used for hacking at the agency's headquarters in Seoul July 8. South Korean authorities issued a cyber-security warning on Wednesday after the Web sites of government agencies and financial institutions were disabled by apparent hacker attacks, possibly linked to North Korea.
(Hwang Gwang-Mo/Yonhap/Reuters)Photos (1 of 1)
North Korean hackers blamed for sweeping cyber attack on US networks
By Matthew Shaer | 07.08.09
Update: Attacks continue today in South Korea.
A series of attacks on computer networks in South Korea and the US was apparently the work of North Korean hackers, several news agencies are reporting today. The attacks, which targeted the White House, the Pentagon, and the Washington Post, among other high-level institutions, are raising concerns that the long-simmering conflict with North Korea is expanding into a dangerous new theater.
According to Seoul’s National Intelligence Service, the “attacks appeared to have been elaborately prepared and staged by a certain organization or state.” In that statement, North Korea was not specifically named, but the Yonhap news agency said the NIS had traced the attacks to North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces.
“The NIS has been telling committee members that North Korea or a pro-North Korean force might be behind the cyber terror,” a South Korean legislator told Yonhap. The statement has not been independently verified, and South Korean intelligence agency say the matter remains under investigation.
Meanwhile, The Associated Press has obtained a list of the targets in a coordinated attack last weekend on US networks. Included on the list are the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the Nasdaq stock exchange. Many of the organizations appeared to have successfully blunted the sustained computer assaults, the AP said.
In South Korea, the sites of the presidential office, the defense ministry, and the National Assembly were saturated with access requests generated by malicious software on Tuesday, crippling server response to legitimate traffic, South Korea’s Communications Commission said in a statement.
A test
Many analysts see the attacks as a test of the US government’s ability to deal with a coordinated cyber-attack.
In late May, President Obama unveiled the details of an ambitious new cyber-security initiative, which he said would gird the nation’s infrastructure against digital threats. “We rely on the Internet to pay our bills, to bank, to shop, to file our taxes,” Obama said in a news conference. “But we’ve had to learn a whole new vocabulary just to stay ahead of the cyber criminals who would do us harm – spyware and malware and spoofing and phishing and botnets.”
At the time, the White House appeared to be responding to two high-level cyber-security incidents: the apparent breach of a top-secret strike fighter program and a viral attack on computers at a military base in Afghanistan. “[It’s] clear that we’re not as prepared as we should be, as a government or as a country,” Obama said, adding that, the US has “failed to invest in the security of our digital infrastructure.”
As Monitor reporter Gordon Lubold has noted, there were some 37,000 cyber attacks in the United States in 2007 alone – up 800 percent from 2005, according to a recently published estimate that cited data from the Department of Homeland Security.
What’s next?
The attacks on networks here and in South Korea are the latest reminder that cyber-security remains a pressing concern in the 21st century. They may also be a sign that North Korea has stumbled across a new way to provoke its neighbors to the South and its enemies to the West.
On Mashable, Stan Schroeder writes that continued attacks could have profound economic and political consequences. “What seems like a geek’s dream come true – a cyber war – might end up in tighter government control over the Internet, which can have serious privacy implications for all of us,” he argues.
Meanwhile, Ed Morrissey, a conservative blogger, sees the attacks as a clear-cut case of provocation. “The cyber attack shows that [North Korean leader Kim Jong-il] has put plenty of resources into that technology and that Pyongyang intends on pursuing hostilities on every possible battlefield in this generation of leadership and the next,” he writes. “The US had better show that we can prevail against it and make it more costly for the Kims than for us.”
Update: State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said today that the attack against the state.gov website is “ongoing” but “much reduced,” Bloomberg News is reporting. Kelly said he could not speculate as to the identity of the attackers. “We’re investigating, but we can’t confirm the source of attacks yet,” he said.
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3. Joe | 07.08.09
Well, when are we going to counter-attack? Oh, I know, Obama is going to use his slippery Chicago tongue to lambast the North Koreans into submission. When this country wakes up, and realizes that we have a nit wit in the White House who is going to threaten the security of this nation to pursue his naive perception of our enemies, I can only hope it is not too late.
4. lolwut | 07.08.09
Anyone else had no idea there was any kind of “cyber” attack? More like Fail Korea.
5. Happy Hacker | 07.08.09
South Korea calls it “Cyber Terror”. Are they really that afraid of it? Good security professionals could set up a secure system and block abusive access. Sure, the first time its annoying but you block it and move on. I’d hardly bring the word “Terror” into this. Does fear somehow help the situation?
The US is giving North Korea food and in exchange is being having to fend off attacks. I’d think the clear decision should be to stop feeding them.
The U.S. citizens (and people all over the world) are going to have to learn about computer security and not run Internet Explorer and not click on the “Free Virus Scan” pop-ups and learn that downloading stuff you don’t understand will get you infected.
6. F | 07.08.09
The best way to deal with cyber terrorism is to come at them head on. We need to come right back against North Korea. Launch the Digital A-Bomb at North Korea’s servers, flood millions of access requests to their email systems, cripple their own networks to the point it cracks. When a group of over priced techies in a 3rd world country launch attacks against a major source, you don’t just ignore it and hope they learned they can’t get past our high tech firewalls, you make sure to actively fight people who are throwing malichious code at your systems rather than just trace to the source. I’m disappointed in this news story, I would have hoped they would have mentioned, “Despite the attacks our l33tn355 remains intact, we pwned them!”
7. e m glavin | 07.08.09
It would be nice if the report from South Korea had more than one verified source. Is this good reporting or a rush to judgment? If it is a rush to judgment it will have serious consequences about whom to believe. The CSM was always a great source…now I’m unsure.
8. Hans Beerbaum | 07.08.09
If the US counterattacks N Korea in cyberwar, couldn’t we just shut them down?
9. pauly | 07.08.09
My guess is Kim-Jong is looking for a legacy before he ends his presidency. The reason for the recent activity from North Korea. I am thinking he has some clever propaganda plan up his sleeve before he dies.
maybe provoke the USA to bomb inside North Korea to justify his presidency of paranoia
10. Betty | 07.08.09
You need to check your sources before you inflame more hatred in the world. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said today.
“The attack against our state.gov Web site started on July 5,” Kelly told reporters at his daily briefing. “It’s still ongoing, but I’m told it’s much reduced right now.” He said he hadn’t noticed “any real difficulties” in accessing the site.
Kelly declined to speculate on who was responsible for the attacks. “We’re investigating, but we can’t confirm the source of attacks yet,” he said.
11. Happysnappysong | 07.08.09
Its all an illusion for what is really happening, notice all the time being spent on N.K. with these diversions, its another form or warfare. No one is paying attention Iran, or the Chinese, or our soldier that was captured or what ever may be happening here in our own Country
12. MadScientist | 07.08.09
1. This looks to me like a scare tactic by those who want to escalate into cyber warfare.
2. North Korea doesn’t really have any computer networks to retaliate against.
13. Duder | 07.08.09
… No we can’t just shut things down… We can’t even prevent DOS attacks… We (the U.S.) really has bad security… we spend so much time putting someone on Mars and shooting guns that we don’t know jack about computers… U.S. cyber security: F- .
14. Tony | 07.08.09
You should all watch the free documentary @ http://WWW.zeitgeistmovie.com to see how this kind of stuff works
15. NWO | 07.08.09
Finally, we will not publish any comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence.
Almost any comment on this board does that.
My opinion is, you can’t be prejudice, you know what happend with Irak and weapons of mass distruction.
16. Jeff | 07.08.09
The problem with counter-attacking N. Korea’s cyber infrastructure is that they don’t have one. Outside of the military, hardly anyone even has electricity.
17. al | 07.08.09
can anyone say false flag? hold on to your seats you are about to loose alot of freedoms you take for granted on the internet. you really think that the north koreans are stupid? i can assure you they are not. look whats behind this all, look linearly at the news, this has been brewing for a long long time…
19. John | 07.08.09
North Korea seems to be testing the spine and political will of President Obama. He has not responded in my opinion so well to other International situations like Iran, Honduras, Israel.
The wolrd is watching I hope our leader shows some strength here. But what happen to the ship we were following? Did we board it or what?
20. Mike Carrieri | 07.08.09
I know the where the perpertrators live. They are north of the Yalu and next to the Moscow River. Ask for borscht and dim sum when you get there.
22. Matt D | 07.08.09
Our site experienced very similar DDOS attacks at the same time that the U.S. and South Korean government’s sites were being pummeled with requests.
23. Jefferson | 07.08.09
They could have atleast named the attack with some kind of key word twords Michael Jackson. That way the American “News” could think about doing a story on it.
24. Newbiedude | 07.08.09
I have no relation at all with government websites but I also got some attacks on my websites since July 4th. Appears that those guys are attacking any website from the US. Why we have to experience this kind of issues to learn about security?
25. Bondane | 07.08.09
S.O.S. !!!!!
YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED….
North Korea’s condition has always been reported neither properly nor correctly. it has made world community inappropriately and indecisively responded any moves made by this country. It’s important to keep in mind that the only strength of North Korea is its leaders’ “BLUFFING” while letting their people dying, even it is believed to be more apparently lately.
27. Makavelli | 07.09.09
I think North Korea intelligency has seen big weakness of America before and after 911 ,failure to track down a minor taliban group for many years and defeat them.I also think North Korea wants to be super power thus ready to confront all unnecessary stupid laws of United Nation and democratic commonwealth Countries. There is no problem if Communist rules them world and it’ power get recognized.Further more North Korea really hates American Imperalism.
Just think about
Makavelli.
29. Todd Gack | 07.09.09
Kim Jong-il addressed the cyber attack in a speach this morning:
http://lolcurrentevents.blogspot.com/2009/07/boredom-leads-to-blogging.html
30. Angie | 07.28.09
NWO, There is nothing “wrong” with the comments. It is perfectly natural considering the news report that we just read. Grow a pair and get over it. Prejudice means to PRE judge. After all we know about North Korea none of what was posted in prejudice. That word “prejudice” and “racist” is beginning to be WAY overused and also a way of limited people from speaking freely as in “Free Speach”. Lighten up NWO. I don’t think I want to come to your site anymore now. My friend was right when he told me he stopped coming here.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
4. South Korea again hit by cyber-attacks, as search for hackers intensifies | csmonitor.com | 07.09.09
7. What the heck with the hackers? Twitter and Facebook got hacked this morning. « Tweeties’ Blog | 08.06.09
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1. holly | 07.08.09
interesting .. seems north korea is asking for trouble. They are impatiently waiting to destroy themselves. I am sure their nukes should be enough to self destruct, they should test it locally first .. how dumb is north korean govt and their supporters