N. Korean hackers’ attacks on S. Korea reach 1.29 million per day

Korean public institutions suffered an average of 1.62 million hacking attacks daily last year, of which 80% (1.29 million) were originated from North Korea. Last year, the average daily number of hacking cases targeting domestic public institutions increased by 36% year-on-year (1.19 million cases). It was also discovered that North Korea had recently strengthened its hacking infrastructure by importing many high-performance computers, which are sanctioned against North Korea. There were also suspected cases in which IP users presumed to be North Korean hackers had learned generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ‘Chat GPT.’

Reports say that North Korea is likely to carry out a large-scale cyber-attack ahead of South Korea’s general election in April. “There are risks of attacks on the election system or to undermine infrastructure or administrative services for the public,” said the National Intelligence Service.

According to the National Intelligence Service, North Korean hacking organizations set attack targets per instructions of North Korean leader Kim Jung Un. For example, a hacking organization hacked three South Korean public institutions on domestic agriculture and fisheries industries and stole food research data on Kim emphasizing food production in January last year. When Kim stressed the importance of ‘strengthening naval power’ while inspecting naval units in July and August last year, North Korean hackers hacked four domestic shipbuilding companies. The hackers also hacked drone companies to steal engine-related data after Kim instructed to ‘strengthen drone production’ in October last year.

More recently, North Korean hackers have widened the scope of cyber-attacks, including unspecified individuals, moving away from previous attacks on public officials or virtual currency exchanges.

Evidence was recently found that these hackers had been attempting to use generative AI such as ‘Chat GPT’ and ‘Clova’ for hacking. They used AI to search for hacking targets by entering instructions such as “automatically create a phishing page.” “Though AI-applied attempts have not been used in practice yet, they can be used at any time. There are also signs of North Korea trying to develop its AI for hacking purposes,” said an official with the National Intelligence Service.


yea@donga.com