S.Korea Investigates Possible Cyberattack
South Korean authorities are investigating what appears to be a widespread cyberattack after several of the country's broadcasters and financial institutions reported a major failure of their computer networks.
At least three broadcasters - KBS, MBC and YTN - said their computer networks were paralyzed on Wednesday. Images of employees staring at blank computer screens circulated in South Korean media.
Two banks - the Shinhan Bank and the Nonghyup Bank - were also reported to be part of the attack, as were some of the country's ATMs. Local media suggest the country's stock markets have not been affected.
South Korean police say they are investigating the cause of the outages to determine whether they were a result of a concerted cyberattack by North Korea, which has a history of carrying out cyber warfare on the South.
The news comes just days after North Korea accused the United States and South Korea of launching a computer attack on several of its websites, which mysteriously suffered a prolonged outage last week.
North Korea has used increasingly violent rhetoric against the U.S.-backed South in recent weeks, threatening to wage all-out war after the United Nations passed sanctions in response to its latest nuclear test.
Pyongyang is believed to have an elite cyber warfare unit that was reportedly behind computer attacks on South Korean government agencies and financial institutions in 2009 and 2011.
Source: Voice of America
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