Hackers Steal Personal Information from Popular South Korean Websites

Yahoo! News reports that hackers managed to steal personal information of about 35 million Internet users in South Korea. The alleged hacking attack originated in China, according to officials working for Korea Communications Commission or KCC. In a statement released on Thursday, KCC said, “Hackers purportedly attacked popular Internet and social media sites Nate and Cyworld earlier this week, stealing data such as social security numbers and email addresses.”

According to KCC, wrote Yahoo! News, the operator of the site SK Communications suspects that the attack originated from computers in China based on their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

As per the description in this report, the stolen data included user IDs, passwords, social security numbers, names, mobile phone numbers and email addresses. However, Nate operators quickly stated that the social security numbers and passwords stolen are encrypted, so they cannot be used for illegal purposes.

Meanwhile, based on comments from South Korean police, the report suggests that this investigation could take several months. Quoting KCC official Kim Jie-won, Yahoo! News wrote that if proven, the attack would be the largest Internet hacking case to take place in South Korea.

With a population of about 50 million people, market watchers say that South Korea is one of the most wired Country in the world. Also, over 80 percent of homes have broadband connectivity to the Internet.

This is not the first such attack. In previous attacks also the officials pointed fingers toward hackers operating from IP addresses in China, wrote Yahoo! News. However, China has denied all such charges of hacking in the past, saying the country itself is a victim of hacking.

In May, Yahoo! News wrote that South Korean prosecutors blamed hackers in North Korea to breach the computer network of a South Korean bank early in the year. According to the prosecutors, the software used in this hacking was similar to the one used in a 2009 attack that paralyzed South Korean and U.S. websites. Like China, North Korea has also denied any responsibility for such attacks, reports Yahoo! News.

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