Opposition claims NIS spied on citizens

By Yi Whan-woo

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo

The main opposition New Politics Alliance (NPAD) on Wednesday produced what they claim is new evidence showing that the spy agency attempted to hack into the computers of civilians.

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of NPAD said that he found three private Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of personal computers that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) allegedly attempted to install hacking software into between July and August 2013.

“These IP addresses are completely new in addition to those we previously found in our investigation,” Ahn said during a press briefing at the National Assembly.

The NPAD lawmaker now leads a fact-finding committee that was launched on July 17 to look into the snowballing hacking scandal involving the NIS.

The spy agency faces suspicions that it carried out surveillance on civilians after purchasing a hacking software program from an Italian cyber security firm, called Hacking Team, in 2012.

The allegations came after customer data of the Milano-based company was stolen and spread on the Internet on July 14.

The NIS admitted that it made the purchase. However, it claimed it used most of the programs for the purposes of strengthening cyber warfare capabilities against Pyongyang, adding that the system can simultaneously access content sent by 20 mobile phones.

The committee, which is comprised of 10 lawmakers and civic experts, previously said that some 138 IP addresses, owned by a private telecommunication company KT, were suspected of being hacked by the NIS.

Ahn, a software mogul-turned-lawmaker, accepted a request by NPAD chairman Moon Jae-in to form a National Assembly committee to look into the case.