South Korea plans to train 3,000 "cyber sheriffs" by next year to protect businesses after a spate of attacks on state and private Web sites.
The "cyber sheriffs" would be tasked with "protecting corporate information and preventing the leaks of industrial secrets," AFP reported Sunday, quoting Yonhap News Agency.
In the event of cyber attacks, the National Intelligence Service, the country's main spy agency, would set up a task force including civilian and government experts to counter the online threats, it added.
The country already has a military cyber unit.
South Korean and U.S. government and private Web sites came under sustained attack in July designed to swamp and paralyze operations.
Seoul suspected North Korea was behind the attacks, which targeted a number of Web sites including that of South Korea's presidential office, defense ministry, parliament and banks as well as the U.S. State Department but investigators failed to track down who was behind the activity.
South Korea, where 95 percent of homes have broadband, is among the top countries in terms of access to the high-speed Internet, according to a survey by Boston-based Strategy Analytics in June.