Email hacking makes up bulk of N. Korea's cyberattacks: lawmaker

Published : Sept 22, 2016 - 09:30 Updated : Sept 22, 2016 - 14:12

Email hacking makes up the bulk of cyberattacks committed by North Korea, a ruling party lawmaker said Thursday, adding the South Korean government must improve its security awareness.

According to the data compiled by Rep. Joo Kwang-Deok of the ruling Saenuri Party, 86 percent of the cyberattacks conducted by Pyongyang on the South Korean military in 2015 involved using emails.

Last year, Seoul detected 74 cases of North Korean cyberattack using email, with 12 involving malicious codes.

Rep. Joo Kwang-Deok of the ruling Saenuri Party (Yonhap)

North Korea also made 43 attacks through July this year, with email hacking accounting for 27 cases, the data showed.

Joo said the figures are significant as North Korea previously focused on attacking webpages, adding that Pyongyang is apparently expanding its efforts to gain access to confidential military data. (Yonhap)