Recent data indicates that the highest number of cyber attack attempts aimed at South Korean diplomatic institutions over the past five years originated from China.
An analysis of security incident data submitted today by South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its affiliated agencies, conducted by Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon Chil Seung, revealed that out of 116,838 cyber-attack attempts, 32,364 came from China, making it the most common source.
Attacks from the United States followed closely behind, totaling 31,627 incidents. Other notable sources included India, with 7,605 incidents, and Russia, with 4,646. Domestic attacks within South Korea accounted for 3,683 incidents, ranking fifth overall.
In terms of attack types, the most prevalent was attempts to hack websites, which totaled 39,806 incidents. This was followed by attempts to leak server information (28,332 incidents), attempts to steal email accounts and receive hacked emails (23,761 incidents), and attempts to collect server information (14,933 incidents).
For the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the most common attack was related to server information leaks, while website hacking attempts were the primary concern for the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Kwon emphasized, “Since the types of cyber attacks vary among different diplomatic institutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to focus on preventing server information leaks, while KOICA should prioritize protecting its website and email accounts. We must enhance our capabilities to respond effectively to these threats.”