Major Cyber attack on South Korean database

by News Desk
July 30, 2011

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1612/major-cyber-attack-on-south-korean-database

Korea Communications Commission [KCC] said, it was investigating the case of twin compromises of the Cyworld social networking site and the Nate web services site, which are both operated by SK Communications. More than 35 million users of the two sites, which is above half the country's population, had their names, email addresses and other information exposed, though apparently not unencrypted financial data or passwords.

South Korean authorities and online security analysts say they are assessing the extent of damage caused by what may be the largest data breach in the country's history.

South Korean police are leading the investigation into a huge cyber-theft, initially traced to China, targeting popular internet and social media sites.

SK Communications says it discovered on Tuesday that malicious code was used to hack the Nate portal, which is popular for searching and e-mail and is the third most visited in the country. Cyworld [known as the Korean Facebook] was also breached. It is estimated that slightly more than half of South Korea's 50 million people have Cyworld accounts.

But such stealing of information might cause further phishing attacks on the users in the form of emails with malicious attachments. It could also be used to infect South Korean internet users with fatal viruses.

Two years back, South Korean government sites were attacked en mess. South Korean intelligence suspected North Korea or its sympathizers behind the Cyber attack and stealing of information.

In April, personal information of more than 400,000 users of the Hyundai Capital web site was accessed.

Shin Hyun Chul, the director of information security at the Korea Information Technology Research Institute in Seoul to Voice of America; if the stolen data is used for criminal purposes it will cause a social problem. He says he is worried personally that his identity or data also could be used to carry out fraudulent activities that would harm a third party.

In recent years the South Korean government has alleged that North Korea is targeting online sites in this country, as well as attempting to remotely infiltrate or paralyze South Korean government, military and institutional computers.

Analysts say it appears, based on initial evidence, the motivation for this latest massive cyber-theft is financial, rather than political.

Meanwhile, South Korean currency, won fell against the US dollar during late Friday [July 29, 2011] as lingering sovereign debt woes in the US and Europe weighed on investor's sentiment towards the risk sensitive local currency. Traders said the local currency will likely experience volatility ahead due to uncertainty over a possible credit-rating downgrade for US debt.

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