In this July 3, 2013 photo, Chris Palm, director of corporate communications, runs a demonstration of global computer virus activity inside the war room at the McAfee headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. The hackers who knocked out tens of thousands of South Korean computers simultaneously this year are out to do far more than erase hard drives, cybersecurity firms say: They also are trying to steal South Korean and U.S. military secrets with a malicious set of codes theyve been sending through the Internet for years. Researchers at the McAfee Labs said the malware was designed to find and upload information referring to U.S. forces in South Korea, joint exercises or even the word secret. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean investigators say North Korea carried out cyberattacks on the websites of South Korean media companies and the president and prime minister’s offices last month.
In this July 3, 2013 photo, Chris Palm, director of corporate communications, runs a demonstration of global computer virus activity inside the war room at the McAfee headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. The hackers who knocked out tens of thousands of South Korean computers simultaneously this year are out to do far more than erase hard drives, cybersecurity firms say: They also are trying to steal South Korean and U.S. military secrets with a malicious set of codes theyve been sending through the Internet for years. Researchers at the McAfee Labs said the malware was designed to find and upload information referring to U.S. forces in South Korea, joint exercises or even the word secret. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The attacks came on the June 25th Korean War anniversary.
South Korea’s ministry of science on Tuesday said it was blaming North Korea based on analysis of codes, Internet addresses and personal computers used to launch the attacks.
The government-led team of investigators said the online assaults were planned for several months. The attackers hacked file-sharing websites in South Korea to find security weaknesses.