The South Korean police have investigated allegations that a malware attack by a North Korean hacker group compromised the Supreme Court’s computer network. Authorities have started seizing and examining the Supreme Court’s servers as part of their inquiry.
Since February 13th, the Cyber Terror Response Team from the National Police Agency has been conducting searches at the Supreme Court’s Computer Information Center located in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. The police confirmed their actions on February 20th.
A police official said, “We are investigating who hacked the Supreme Court and what documents have been leaked concerning the hacking damage.”
Earlier this year, it was belatedly revealed that the judiciary’s computer network had been infected with malware from Lazarus, a notorious hacker group under the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau. The affected server, which temporarily stores lawsuit documents and other data before they are deleted, was identified as the initial point of the malware infection.
On November 30th of the previous year, the Court Administration Office hesitated to attribute the attack directly to Lazarus. Nevertheless, they later confirmed on December 4th that malware associated with Lazarus was discovered on a temporary server at the Seoul Central District Court. Following this discovery, they sought further analysis from a cybersecurity firm.
cyma@news1.kr
