NK Cyber-Attacks

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A cyber-attack attempt was made on South Korean digital currency exchanges in July this year. An investigation has found that North Korea was behind the hacking. The police say North Korea is expanding its cyber-attacks for financial gain.

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Emails were sent to the employees of South Korean bitcoin exchanges in July. The sender was a police detective at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. Under the title of "request for cooperation in investigation," the email was attached with a document asking the employees to confirm bitcoin users involved in drug crimes. However, a malicious code was hidden in the attachment to hack the main servers of the exchanges. The attempt was aimed at accessing the main servers via employees' computers to steal bitcoin. Police confirmed that these emails were sent to 25 employees of four bitcoin exchanges. The addresses used for sending the emails were either stolen or created without the knowledge of the owners.

[Soundbite] Email Address Theft Victim(Voice modified) : "I learned about the theft after I received a phone call from police. I was told that culprits had stolen my email account to commit fraud."

Police concluded that North Korea was behind the cyber attack, noting that the IP addresses were traced to the North and the same IP addresses were used when South Korea's Presidential Office was hacked last year.

[Soundbite] Kim Young-woon(National Police Agency) : "In the past, cyber attacks were aimed at stealing personal information or causing social confusion. But recently, they are aimed at stealing money."

Authorities are strengthening computer security, warning that North Korea can attempt to earn foreign currencies through cyber attacks.