[Editorial] N.K. cyberattacks

North Korea is stepping up cyberattacks on the South, increasingly targeting national security officials, critical infrastructure and large corporations. 

As the North’s cyber threats to national security increase, the government needs to bolster preparedness and push for the enactment of a law on cyber terrorism.

The North’s latest cyberattacks targeted some 90 diplomats, defense officials, journalists and researchers specializing in North Korean issues.

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said Monday that a group of presumably North Korean hackers had attempted to break into the emails of the targets between January and June.

Prosecutors determined that the culprits in the cyberattacks were North Korean hackers as the method they used was the same as that of the North’s 2014 attack on Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.

The hackers used “spear phishing,” a type of email attack that entices the targets to click on a link that will take them to a fraudulent website. They set up 27 phishing sites for the scam.

What is surprising is that as many as 56 of the targets were duped and provided their email passwords to the hackers. This suggests the prevalence of insensitivity to cybersecurity among high-ranking officials responsible for national security.

The North also launched a cyberattack on national security officials earlier this year. In March, the National Intelligence Service said the North tried to hack into the smartphones of some 300 diplomats, security officials and military officers between late February and early March.

At the time, North Korean hackers succeeded in breaking into the phones of 40 of the officials and stole their text and voice messages and phone logs.

The NIS also told members of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee that the North unsuccessfully tried to hack into the railway control system and computer networks of financial institutions.

The North was also behind the recent hacking of Interpark Corp., an online shopping mall, which resulted in a massive leak of personal information of the company’s customers.

Notably, the hackers sent emails to the company’s executives, demanding 3 billion won ($2.66 million) worth of bitcoins, a virtual currency exchangeable online.

The case suggests that the North has begun to use cyberattacks as a means of extorting money from South Korean corporations. It also indicates the North’s economic plight caused by the harsh U.N. sanctions.

Despite the increased frequency of cyberterrorism from the North, the South still remains unprepared to cope with the security threats. The government and political parties need to cooperate in enacting a law on preventing cyberterrorism as early as possible.