south korea

Anonymous again hacks into North Korean Web sites

Anonymous is once again trying to raise the hackles of North Korea by hacking into one of the country's official news sites.

For the second time this month, the North Korean news and information site Uriminzokkiri.com has been taken down. Trying to access the site today delivers an eventual timeout error. In the official Twitter account for Uriminzokkiri, which Anonymous took over earlier this month, the group tweeted that "more of North Korean websites are in our hand. They will be brought down."

North Korean Web sites minjok.com, jajusasang.com, and paekdu-hanna.com had also … Read more

North Korea behind March cyberattack, says South Korea

South Korea has accused North Korea of launching a recent cyberattack that hit tens of thousands of PCs.

A spokesman for South Korea's Internet agency said today that six computers in North Korea were identified as the source of the attack, according to The Guardian. Those computers used more than 1,000 IP addresses from across the world to infect 48,000 PCs and servers at South Korean banks and broadcasting stations.

The spokesman told the Associated Press that the attack mimicked past hacking attempts by North Korea and pointed the finger at an espionage agency run by the military. … Read more

South Korean cyberattack may not have come from China

South Korea apparently still has a mystery on its hands. Who launched a cyberattack against several of its banks and broadcasters this week?

Regulators for the country initially pointed the finger at China, saying that the attacks originated from a Chinese IP address. But they admitted today that they jumped the gun.

The IP address used in the attack was actually traced to one of the banks hit on Wednesday. South Korea's NongHyup Bank had been using the address as a virtual one for its internal network, according to Reuters. By coincidence, that address matched one registered in China.… Read more

South Korea traces cyberattack to IP address in China

The cyberattack that targeted banks, TV broadcasters, and an Internet service provider in South Korea yesterday originated from an IP address in China, but the identities of the people responsible remain unknown, South Korean regulators say.

"We've identified that a Chinese IP has connected to the organizations affected," a spokesman for South Korea's Communications Commission told a press conference on Thursday, according to a Reuters account of the event.

The revelation comes a day after a massive coordinated attack on servers in South Korea led officials to raise the alert status for the nation's army … Read more

South Korea probes 'massive' cyberattack

South Korea's police are currently investigating a "massive" hack attack on Internet service provider LG Uplus, which led to server outages at three domestic broadcasters and two major banks.

As a result, the army raised its alert status amid concerns the attacks were initiated by its neighbors in North Korea.

Reuters reported Wednesday that authorities were looking into the attack on LG Uplus, which was suspected to be conducted by a group calling itself the "Whois Team".

The investigations were triggered by disrupted servers at television networks YTN, MBC and KBS. Customers at Shinhan Bank … Read more

Charge your smartphone, become a cyberspy

There's just never enough battery life on your smartphone, is there?

You need it for so many things, like informing yourself, informing others and informing some mythical creature that you're about to kill it.

This might be especially true if, say, you happen to be in a U.S. Army garrison in South Korea.

Everyone in South Korea is on smartphones nonstop. It's de rigueur.

Now, efficiency is very important to the Army. Which means it's always tempting to charge a smartphone by plugging it into a computer.

The small drawback at a U.S. Army … Read more

Yahoo completes withdrawal from South Korean market

As it promised earlier this year, Yahoo has completed its exit from the South Korean market before the end of the year, according to a brief report by the Yonhap News Agency.

Yahoo announced its intention in October to withdraw from the country, saying that the move was a response to "efforts to streamline operations and focus our resources on building a stronger global business that's set up for long-term growth and success."

The South Korean unit, which had been in operation since 1997, consisted of about 200 employees, delivered editorial content and handled the company's … Read more

Motorola Mobility to leave South Korea, cut jobs

Motorola Mobility will close "most" of its South Korean operations by 2013, according to a leaked internal memo.

According to the memo (in Korean), the move is part of a continued global restructuring effort by parent company Google, which bought the smartphone maker earlier this year for $12.5 billion. Since then, however, restructuring costs have bumped the overall price close to $13 billion.

The deal was proposed by Google to acquire more than 17,000 patents from Motorola, but the hefty price tag will soon be challenged in court, where the search giant may discover that … Read more

iPhone 5 hits South Korea Friday, and 50+ new lands in December

Apple said today that the iPhone 5 would be available in South Korea on Friday, with more than 50 additional countries getting its marquee smartphone later this month.

As the company has gotten its supply chain issues under control, with ship times in the U.S. dropping dramatically, it is starting to look to expand availability and reach of the iPhone 5.

Apple last week said that the iPhone 5, the iPad Mini, and the fourth-generation iPad would hit the China market in December.

As with previous launches, Apple has had a tough go of it this time around in … Read more

Facebook's 'life saving' organ donor tool spreads to Asia

Facebook's recently launched organ donor "life-saving" tool is now expanding to Asia. South Korea and Japan are the newest countries whose residents will be able to register as organ donors and announce their status to the world via the social network.

According to The Next Web, South Korea and Japan have more than 22 million Facebook users combined, which is sure to help with the social network's goal of increasing organ donation. Although Facebook didn't make a formal announcement about the launch of the feature, a company spokesperson confirmed with CNET that it was indeed … Read more