[Aju News DB]
North Korean hackers were found to have launched a cyber attack on online digital currency exchanges in South Korea this summer in a failed attempt to steal bitcoins, an electronic payment system, according to a police cyber crime team.
The National Police Agency's cyber bureau said that hackers disguised as police, prosecutors or financial security officials had sent e-mails to 25 employees at four digital currency exchanges in July and August in a bid to infect their personal computers with malicious codes.
North Korean hackers appeared to be behind the unsuccessful attack aimed at stealing bitcoins, the bureau said, adding information on South Korean investigators have been leaked in advance through smartphones.
The bureau said it has tracked an IP (internet protocol) address originating from the place in Liaoning, a northeastern Chinese province bordering North Korea. The same IP address was related to a series of previous North Korean cyber attacks on South Korea in recent years.
Government and civilian cyber experts in Seoul insist the cash-strapped North has been desperate to secure foreign currencies in every way possible due to tight sanctions imposed by the international community to punish Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.
North Korean hackers are suspected of stealing and collecting bitcoins because it is hard to track them down.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
