South Korea has been on heightened alert against the threat of cyber
attacks by North Korea after it conducted a nuclear test in January and
a long-range rocket launch last month that led to new U.N. sanctions.
A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture.
North Korea has hacked into
more than 140,000 computers at large South Korean conglomerates and
government agencies and planted malicious codes that may have been
intended for a massive cyber attack that has been thwarted, a news
report said on Monday.
The hacking originated
from an internet address traced to the North Korean capital and targeted
a software used by about 160 companies and government agencies to
manage their computer networks, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the
police.
The internet address was identical to the
one used in a 2013 cyber attack against South Korean banks and
broadcasters that froze their computer systems for more than a week.
South Korea blamed the North for that attack.
The
South Korean police agency's cyber investigation unit uncovered the
hacking and worked with the companies and agencies affected to
neutralise the malicious codes and prevent them from being used in a
large-scale cyber attack, Yonhap said.
The police's cyber investigation unit could not immediately confirm the report.
South
Korea has been on heightened alert against the threat of cyberattacks
by North Korea after it conducted a nuclear test in January and a
long-range rocket launch last month that led to new U.N. sanctions.
In
March, the South's spy agency said it had intercepted an attempt to
hack into the South's computer networks to attack the transport system's
control network, blaming the North for the attempt.
North
Korea has worked for years to develop the ability to disrupt or destroy
computer systems that control public services such as
telecommunications and other utilities, according to a North Korean
defector familiar with the effort.
The United
States accused North Korea of a cyber attack against Sony Pictures in
2014 that led to the studio cancelling the release of a comedy based on
the fictional assassination of the country's leader, Kim Jong Un.
North Korea denied the accusation.
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