Classified Information Stolen by Hackers

Today's war is often likened to an information war. Thus, many countries around the world are striving to collect information about their enemies by mobilizing state-of-the-art technologies. It is also important to ensure data security in order to block hackers' penetration into computer networks of government agencies and public organizations. A nation cannot win a war if it can't repulse cyber attacks from its enemies.

A recent report about hacking on the South Korean army online network shows how vulnerable the nation is to cyber attacks. Government officials said Saturday that classified information on dangerous chemicals was stolen by hackers who broke into the network on March 5. The hackers allegedly obtained the ID of an army officer whose personal computer was infected by a virus. Then they were found to have logged into the Chemicals Accident Response Information System, used by 589 government agencies including the military and police.

It was surprising that the hackers stole classified information on 1,350 dangerous chemicals. More shocking is that North Korea could be behind the hacking. If the North had actually orchestrated the attacks, the communist regime might have intended to collect the information in an apparent bid to strike chemical plants with bombs or missiles in case of war. The authorities should conduct thorough investigations into the hacking case in order to check if the hackers had access to other government online networks and potentially took away other classified materials.

The report came three months after Web sites of government agencies, banks, businesses, Internet portals and newspapers were slowed or disrupted by the so-called distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. People could not but express shock and helplessness as the presidential office, the National Intelligence Service, the Ministry of National Defense were caught off guard by the attacks in July. Hackers also penetrated into the presidential office's intranet in February 2008. There are growing public concerns about the leakage of confidential data related to national security, defense and diplomacy from government ministries.

In conclusion, the government still has a poor online and computer security system, damaging the nation's reputation as an IT powerhouse. It is really disappointing to know that bureaucrats lack awareness about data security. They have usually promised to take ``comprehensive'' measures to block hacking attacks and enhance Internet security. But they were soon found to have only paid lip service. After the DDoS attack, the military announced a plan to create a cyber command to better cope with information warfare. But it has made little progress in putting the plan into action.

It was reported that North Korea set up a five-year military college in 1986 to cultivate 100 computer technicians every year who are mobilized to infiltrate into the online networks of the South Korean military, the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and defense contractors. It appears that South Korea will lose an escalating cyber war unless it acts now to put a tighter security system in place.