Report: Cyber Attacks Against South Korea Were ‘War Drills’ by the North – Techland – TIME.com

North Korea has been conducting “drills” for cyberwar against its southern neighbor using simple, but very effective denial-of-service attacks, according to security experts.

A team from McAfee looked into the attacks on South Korean internet networks in July 2009 and March this year, and concluded they were probably efforts by North Korea to test cyberwar weapons.

Those weapons are blunt and crude, but they work.

via Report: Cyber Attacks Against South Korea Were ‘War Drills’ by the North – Techland – TIME.com.

Information Warfare: Military Camp 144

May 15, 2011: North Korea‘s Mirim College has had the last laugh. Long ridiculed as the source of North Korea’s elite, but unseen, hackers, the growing number of devastating Cyber War attacks coming from North Korea has changed perceptions. South Korea is the main target of all this Cyber War effort, and much, if not most, is traced back to North Korea. The South Koreans are increasingly anxious about these cyber attacks from the north, and the school that has trained so many of the hackers.

via Information Warfare: Military Camp 144.

Secrets Surface About North Korea’s Cyberwar College | Cybercrime & Cybercriminals | Cyberwar & Cybersecurity | Tech News Daily

According to the South Korean newspaper the DailyNK, Mirim College, in a mountainous region of North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, was opened in 1986 by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, and in the 25 years since has made it its mission to train about 120 students per year in electronic warfare.

The DailyNK spoke to a North Korean defector, Cheong, who said he is familiar with Mirim, although he did not attend himself.

Cheong said basic coursework at Mirim takes five years to complete. Students, who wear the same uniforms as military officials, choose between five departments: electronic engineering, command automation, programming, technical reconnaissance and computer science. The command automation department includes a course, the article said, focused on hacking its southern neighbor, called “South Chosun’s Early Warning System and How to Respond to It.”

(Chosun is another name for Korea.)

In addition to its highly sensitive curriculum, security guards patrol the grounds, and no car is allowed to enter the college unless it’s carrying Kim Jong-il.

After graduation, students join the People’s Armed Forces and are frequently assigned to two electronic warfare brigades.

John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, told Wired that despite North Korea’s poverty and isolation, he is not surprised the country would focus so much effort on training cybercrime troops.

“Even if the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) can’t feed its own people, it’s quite capable of developing and using the full spectrum of modern weaponry, including cyber.”

via Secrets Surface About North Korea’s Cyberwar College | Cybercrime & Cybercriminals | Cyberwar & Cybersecurity | Tech News Daily.

DDoS Attacks by Contract on Sharp Rise

As I monitor these news articles N. Korea comes into the China picture. I will now add Korea Cyber information into the mix. –vet4life

The Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) has found that DDoS attacks from China, which are presumed to be made by contract, are on a sharp rise.

“Existing DDoS attacks stopped when the hackers received money from the site after attacking a site three or four times,” said an employee of the KISA. “Contract DDoS attacks, however, continue in the form of a long-term cyber battle until the demand of the client is met.”

The Lineage Community P Site, an online café for a popular online game, was attacked via an IP from China for four days last month. “We received an email which threatens to continue DDoS attacks from an intimidator presumed to be a Chinese hacker unless we stop advertizing a specific company,” said a manager of the site. “We are at a loss as we can neither stop the advertisement for keeping the site alive nor become a target of DDoS attacks.”

The cost of instigating Chinese hackers to launch DDoS attacks varies depending on the size of a target site. But it is not so high, generally ranged from several hundred of thousands won to several millions, which has increased such cyber attacks by Chinese hackers who are hired by those who want to disturb business of their rivals or bear a grudge.

via 대한민국 IT포털의 중심! 이티뉴스.

—  http://english.etnews.co.kr/news/detail.html?id=201105110008