Cyber Alert Level

[Anchor Lead]

Many Korean businesses and organizations have fallen victim to cyber-attacks in recent months. The most likely perpetrators include hackers from China and North Korea. In response the South Korean government has raised the cyber alert level.

[Pkg]

This is the Web site of a Korean firm that has fallen victim to hacking recently. The text criticizes the deployment of the U.S. missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula. More than 30 big and small Korean Web sites have been attacked by hackers this month alone. They include the Web sites of public agencies.

[Soundbite] Choi Sang-myung(Staff, Security Company) : "The most basic hacking technology is the one that modifies the screen. It's the surest way for hackers to convey their messages."

One domestic commercial bank fell victim to a D-DoS attack early this month. The bank's staff has found that the perpetrators were most likely North Korean hackers. The government has raised its cyber alert level to Stage 3. One telecom company has bolstered real-time monitoring of its wireless and landline telecommunications networks in order to be ready to respond to further attacks immediately.

[Soundbite] Moon Young-il(KT) : "About 400,000 malicious codes are created daily and distributed extensively. We need to respond to malicious codes through a cooperation among the private, public and military sectors."

Experts urge individuals to protect their computers from hacking by updating their security software.