The alleged purchase of a hacking program by the state spy agency from an Italian company is creating a big stir.
The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has named Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, the founder of AhnLab, the nation's biggest anti-virus software company, to lead a fact-finding panel to investigate the latest surveillance scandal. Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong also hinted at launching a prosecution probe into the hacking allegations.
On Tuesday, National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Lee Byung-ho told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that his agency bought the RCS (remote control system) software from Hacking Team of Italy in 2012. But the spymaster said the NIS purchased the program to combat North Korea's cyberwarfare and use it for research purposes.
Lee said the hacking program would be ineffective for spying on civilians, noting that it is used by 97 intelligence agencies in 35 countries around the world. "If the suspicion is true, I am willing to take whatever punishment is necessary,'' he said.
Even so, what has been uncovered so far is serious enough to have the public raise doubts. In particular, it has been revealed that the NIS made inquiries to Hacking Team in 2013 about hacking a computer owned by a "lawyer,'' according to leaked data from WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website. This can be a serious case, considering that the spy agency's claim could be false if the lawyer proves to be a Korean with a progressive inclination.
True, there are many plausible reasons to question the intelligence unit's argument for the need to strengthen Seoul's cyberwarfare capabilities against North Korea.
First and foremost, it is doubtful why the NIS sent locally sold units of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy smartphone to the Italian surveillance spyware vendor and made inquiries about how to conduct hackings whenever new models were released. This raises suspicions that the agency's hacking may have targeted Koreans. The NIS also needs to explain why it purchased the wireless monitoring software right before the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012.
Still, it is illegal even if the spy agency used the program for anti-espionage activities because the relevant law allows the use of such spyware systems only when the agency obtains a court warrant. Further, it is obviously illegal to wiretap computers and smartphones by planting malware secretly.
The spy service has said it abolished all monitoring equipment since the so-called X-file scandal in 2005, which involved a wide range of illegal bugging of politicians, bureaucrats and civilians. But it turns out that the NIS is still operating hacking programs possibly to spy on civilians' phone conversations.
All this raises the need for law enforcement to get to the bottom of the incident so that the intelligence unit will never dream of snooping on civilians.
The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has named Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, the founder of AhnLab, the nation's biggest anti-virus software company, to lead a fact-finding panel to investigate the latest surveillance scandal. Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong also hinted at launching a prosecution probe into the hacking allegations.
On Tuesday, National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Lee Byung-ho told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that his agency bought the RCS (remote control system) software from Hacking Team of Italy in 2012. But the spymaster said the NIS purchased the program to combat North Korea's cyberwarfare and use it for research purposes.
Lee said the hacking program would be ineffective for spying on civilians, noting that it is used by 97 intelligence agencies in 35 countries around the world. "If the suspicion is true, I am willing to take whatever punishment is necessary,'' he said.
Even so, what has been uncovered so far is serious enough to have the public raise doubts. In particular, it has been revealed that the NIS made inquiries to Hacking Team in 2013 about hacking a computer owned by a "lawyer,'' according to leaked data from WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website. This can be a serious case, considering that the spy agency's claim could be false if the lawyer proves to be a Korean with a progressive inclination.
True, there are many plausible reasons to question the intelligence unit's argument for the need to strengthen Seoul's cyberwarfare capabilities against North Korea.
First and foremost, it is doubtful why the NIS sent locally sold units of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy smartphone to the Italian surveillance spyware vendor and made inquiries about how to conduct hackings whenever new models were released. This raises suspicions that the agency's hacking may have targeted Koreans. The NIS also needs to explain why it purchased the wireless monitoring software right before the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012.
Still, it is illegal even if the spy agency used the program for anti-espionage activities because the relevant law allows the use of such spyware systems only when the agency obtains a court warrant. Further, it is obviously illegal to wiretap computers and smartphones by planting malware secretly.
The spy service has said it abolished all monitoring equipment since the so-called X-file scandal in 2005, which involved a wide range of illegal bugging of politicians, bureaucrats and civilians. But it turns out that the NIS is still operating hacking programs possibly to spy on civilians' phone conversations.
All this raises the need for law enforcement to get to the bottom of the incident so that the intelligence unit will never dream of snooping on civilians.
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