North Korea Linked to 8 out of 10 Hacking Attempts Last Year

On the 15th, Kim Jong-un, the Chairman of the North Korean State Affairs Commission, gave a policy speech on the ‘tasks at hand for the revitalization and development of the Republic and the promotion of people’s welfare’ at the Supreme People’s Assembly held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang. Yonhap News

It was revealed that North Korea was behind 8 out of 10 cyber attacks attempted by state-sponsored and international hacking organizations against the domestic public sector last year. It is analyzed that the North Korean hacking organization selected targets reflecting the orders and interests of Chairman Kim Jong-un. The National Intelligence Service is strengthening its alertness as it expects an increase in North Korea’s cyber attacks targeting the April 10th parliamentary elections this year.

Baek Jong-wook, the third deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, attended a press conference on ‘Cyber Threat Trends and Response Activities’ held at the National Cyber Security Cooperation Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do on the 24th, and said, “We should not forget and be vigilant that cyber attacks have occurred one after another when inter-Korean relations were strained and criticism against the South was high.”

Baek Jong-wook, the third deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, is introducing this year’s cyber threat outlook at a press conference on ‘Cyber Threat Trends and Response Activities’ held at the National Cyber Security Cooperation Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do on the 24th. Photo provided by the National Intelligence Service

The National Intelligence Service detected and responded to an average of 1.62 million attempts per day by state-sponsored and international hacking organizations to attack the public sector last year. This is a 36% increase from the previous year (1.19 million cases). North Korea was the largest attacker with 80%, followed by China with 5%. The National Intelligence Service predicted that the spread of fake news and hacking attacks on election systems aimed at intervening in elections and fostering government distrust will intensify. Deputy Director Baek said, “In this election year, the spread of fake news and false information, including hacking of election systems, will increase. We will do our best to block cyber threats.”

Meanwhile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that North Korea launched several cruise missiles into the West Sea around 7 a.m. today. It has been ten days since North Korea launched a new medium-range ballistic missile (North Korea claims it’s a hypersonic missile) on the 14th.