North Korean hackers suspected of cyber-espionage attack on South

North Korean hackers are suspected of launching a covert cyber-espionage campaign against the South Korean government in an attempt to steal highly classified intelligence on defence and security,

"this discovery is interesting because the vast majority of attacks we are seeing are from Chinese origins, so for it to come from North Korea is very unusual and rare," said Costin Raiu, research director of Kaspersky Lab.

"There were some attacks earlier this year that targeted banks, media companies and the suspicion there was also towards attackers in North Korea but this is the first time we have come by something that directly points to North Korea."

Analysts have identified at least 11 targets inside South Korea, including thinktanks such as the Sejong Institute, the Korea Institute for Defence Analyses and supporters of Korean unification. It is also believed that the computers of Seoul's ministry of unification and the shipping giant Hyundai Merchant Marine were targeted by hackers.

The cyber-espionage campaign – dubbed "Kimsuky" – was first detected by security experts on 3 April, amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang carried out its third nuclear tests and threatened attacks on neighbouring countries.

source  theguardian.com