ed Presidential office hacked
Unidentified hackers attacked the websites of the presidential office, the Office of Government Policy Coordination and some media organizations on Tuesday. The cyber attacks occurred around 9:30 a.m., prompting the government to raise its five-stage cyber alert from level one to level two in the morning. This was raised to level three later after the scope of the attack became clear.
It’s a great shame that the main banner photograph of President Park Geun-hye on the Cheong Wa Dae website was replaced by a message praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for 10 minutes from 10 a.m. The hacking coincided with the 63rd anniversary of the start of the Korean War on June 25, 1950.
Several posts left on the hacked websites claimed to be the work of Anonymous, but the global "hacktivist’’ group denied its involvement. Anonymous only said it had succeeded in penetrating a number of North Korean websites, including the official Korean Central News Agency, on the day of the war anniversary, as it promised earlier.
Fortunately, the online attacks in the South were not as serious as those in March that shut down 48,000 computers and servers at broadcasters and banks, but it was revealed that personal information of hundreds and thousands of people were leaked through the hacking.
A hacker who purported to be affiliated with Anonymous claimed that it was perpetrated by his group, but the allegation was not verified. A plausible scenario is that North Korea might have launched preemptive cyber attacks because of the hacktivist group’s stated plan to hack 46 North Korean websites on the day of the war anniversary.
Whoever the hackers might be, it’s a pity that our experts and officials sit idly by to witness the website of the presidential office hacked. True, it’s difficult to defend against cyber terrorism perfectly, but the latest hacking incident illustrates how vulnerable our cyber security is.
Following the March attacks, the government unveiled a package of measures to prevent a recurrence in April. Among other things, the package envisioned making Cheong Wa Dae a national cyber security control tower in view of the need to integrate security functions dispersed among government units. Needless to say, the effectiveness of the package is in doubt, with the presidential office falling prey to the attacks first.
Given that cyber space has become a new battlefield, the nation can’t afford to waste time when it comes to stepping up cyber warfare capabilities. It’s time to concentrate on retooling our cyber security systems and training talented personnel.