ed Cyber threat for Xmas

Of all days, the threat has been made on no other than Christmas Day, which happens to be today.

An anti-nuclear group, as members call themselves, has been spreading classified information on Korea’s nuclear facilities recently with the latest revelation being made on Twitter, Tuesday.

The group released four packages of information, including schematics of the safety evaluation of Wolseong Nuclear Units 3 and 4 and the air ventilation schematics of Gori Nuclear Units 1 and 2. It was the fifth exposure of sensitive information in recent weeks.

The Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corp. insists that the information thrown open thus far does not have any serious implications on national or energy security. But the unloading of information by the anti-nuclear group ― which it says it has much more of ― is becoming more and more threatening, with the latest leak carrying the message that it will damage nuclear power plants today.

Its basic demand has been the stoppage of some plants ― with which the Korean government has not complied ― as well as a $1 million “ransom,” although it did not specify how the delivery should be made.

Amid all these developments, the Korean authorities, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, have made no progress in identifying the culprit. Korea has sought assistance from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and cyber security organizations in Japan and China.

The culprits have been shifting their Internet protocols from location to location to remain under cover while hinting that they have been operating out of Hawaii.

Meanwhile, the prosecution has determined that four computers at Gori and Wolseong have been infected with viruses, meaning there could have been internal leakage of the files rather than being hacked. They said the pattern in the leakage of the information was unlike that of North Korea, so this could be a new organization.

What suddenly triggered this leakage of information is unclear, but the implication could become more serious depending on what other files the group has.

The reality is that Korea’s 23 nuclear reactors supply about 35 percent of all electricity in the country; and the government plans to increase this to 40 percent. For a country like Korea, which has virtually no energy resources ― save for some coal which has been all but depleted ― nuclear power is perhaps the only alternative.

Korea has invested heavily in securing nuclear technology and is even exporting it to countries such as the Philippines. Every step has to be taken to ensure that the supply of nuclear power is not disrupted.