N. Korea's cyber attacks on state-run agencies on rise: lawmaker

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's attempts to hack the Web sites of organizations under South Korea's commerce ministry are steeply increasing, a lawmaker said Friday.
The number of hacking attempts against 10 agencies managed by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy reached some 40 cases in 2010 and through August of this year, Rep. Kim Sung-hei of the ruling Grand National Party said, citing data provided for the annual parliamentary audit.
The agencies include the state-run Korea Gas Corp. and Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP).
An infiltration into the networks of those agencies could provide North Korea with vital information and disrupt operations of key utility facilities, the lawmaker claimed.
The lawmaker said the number of hacking attempts by China, Europe and other nations against state-run utility firms, including the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), reached 10,945 between August 2008 and August 2011.
KHNP, which operates the country's nuclear power plants, faced a total of 819 hacking attempts during the cited period, followed by KEPCO with 602 cases, he said.
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)