By Jane Han
Staff Reporter

South Korea plans to train and deploy 3,000 "cyber sheriffs" by next year to prowl the Web for cyber terrorism, the country's telecom regulator said Sunday.

The plan came two months after a massive wave of cyber assaults crippled some of the nation's key Web sites, including that of the presidential office.

The project is part of the Lee Myung-bak administration's comprehensive cyber-security measures, which were finalized after a government-wide meeting Friday to prevent online attacks in the future, according to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).

The 3,000-strong cyber police force will be deployed full-time to detect any potential threats and minimize damage should there be another attempt to bring down local Web sites, it said.

The need for such combative readiness emerged after a series of concerted cyber attacks from an unknown origin targeted and paralyzed as many as 26 major government and private Web sites, including those of the Presidential office, the Ministry of National Defense, the National Assembly, Internet portal Naver, as well as lenders Shinhan Bank and Korea Exchange Bank.

No permanent damage was reported from the denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, but investigators failed to track down who was behind them.

"The recent cyber warfare waged against South Korea helped us realize the urgent need to coordinate proper countermeasures to prevent a similar threat from recurring again," said a KCC official.

South Korea is one of the world's most wired countries, with about 16 million broadband Internet subscribers accounting for more than a third of the population.

However, the latest assault raised concerns that the country lacks proper security measures and is vulnerable to online threats.

The government's new plan will put the National Intelligence Service in charge of responding to any cyber threats, and under its direction, other government agencies and the private sector will be coordinated based on need.

Besides training sheriffs to monitor Web space, the KCC said schools and companies will also be encouraged to ramp up cyber security training to raise awareness of Internet terrorism.

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr