No Script

Please Wait...

Ramadan Kareem...

Seoul Cyber Experts Warn of More Attacks, Blame North

Seoul Cyber Experts Warn of More Attacks, Blame North
folder_openKoreas access_time6 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Local Editor

South Korean cybersecurity researchers had found evidence they said could link North Korea with the WannaCry cyberattack that had infected more than 300,000 computers worldwide as global authorities scrambled to prevent hackers from spreading new versions of the virus.

Seoul Cyber Experts Warn of More Attacks, Blame North

A researcher from South Korea's Hauri Labs said Tuesday their own findings matched those of Symantec [SYMC.O] and Kaspersky Lab, who said Monday that some code in an earlier version of the WannaCry software had also appeared in programs used by the Lazarus Group, identified by some researchers as a North Korea-run hacking operation.

"It is similar to North Korea's backdoor malicious codes," Simon Choi, a senior researcher with Hauri who has done extensive research into North Korea's hacking capabilities and advises South Korean police and National Intelligence Service.

Both Symantec and Kaspersky said it was too early to tell whether North Korea was involved in the attacks, based on the evidence that was published on Twitter by Google security researcher Neel Mehta. The attacks, which slowed Monday, are among the fastest-spreading extortion campaigns on record.

Damage in Asia, however, has been limited.

Vietnam's state media said Tuesday more than 200 computers had been affected. Taiwan Power Co. said that nearly 800 of its computers were affected, although these were used for administration, not for systems involved in electricity generation.

FireEye Inc [FEYE.O], another large cyber security firm, said it was also investigating but cautious about drawing a link to North Korea.

"The similarities we see between malware linked to that group and WannaCry are not unique enough to be strongly suggestive of a common operator," FireEye researcher John Miller said.

American and European security officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that it was too early to say who might be behind the attacks, but they did not rule out North Korea as a suspect.

An official at South Korea's Korea Internet & Security Agency said Tuesday the agency was sharing information with intelligence officials on recent cases reported for damages but was not in position to investigate the source of the attack. The official declined to comment on intelligence-related matters.

A South Korean police official that handles investigations into hacking and cyber breaches said he was aware of reports on North Korea link but said the police were not investigating yet.

Victims haven't requested investigations but they want their systems to be restored, the official said.

North Korea has denied being behind the Sony and banking attacks.

While the attacks have raised concerns for cyber authorities and end-users worldwide, they have helped cyber-security stocks as investors bet governments and corporations will spend more to upgrade their defenses.

Cisco Systems [CSCO.O] closed up 2.3 percent Monday and was the second-biggest gainer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

Comments

Breaking news