Police expand financial hacking probe team to 43, add forensic specialists
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Police have expanded the team investigating a recent series of hacking attacks on financial institutions to 43 members from the previous 28, adding specialists in digital forensics and international cooperation.
The National Office of Investigation, the investigative arm of the Korean National Police Agency, announced the reinforcement Friday.
“We are investigating thoroughly, securing relevant data and analyzing the affected systems,” police said, adding that they are also pursuing international cooperation, including blocking the servers used in the attacks.
Data leaks have been confirmed at seven financial firms, including major commercial banks, and police opened a formal investigation on Tuesday.
The announcement came amid questions over whether the case will be handed to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (SCIA), which launched Oct. 2 and took over the investigation of major crimes, including cybercrime, from the now-abolished prosecutors’ office.
Under the law governing the SCIA, police and other investigative bodies must notify the agency immediately when they judge a case to be a major crime, even if they detected it first. The SCIA chief may also demand a transfer regardless of how far another agency’s investigation has progressed.
“Even if the case is later transferred to the SCIA, we will thoroughly track down the suspects until then so that there is no gap in the investigation,” police said.
They said confusion over jurisdiction or delays cannot occur because police investigate until a transfer and the SCIA afterward.
Police also rejected criticism that their initial response was slow. They said they began a preliminary inquiry — a fact-finding step before a formal criminal investigation — on Oct. 1, the day the hacking was first reported in the media.
They said they quickly secured log records and set up cooperation with bodies including the Financial Security Institute, which handles cybersecurity for the financial sector.