S. Korea’s Intelligence Service Hosts Hacking Competition To Boost Defense Against N. Korean Cyber Attacks

by Czarelli Tuason / Oct 28, 2015 10:51 PM EDT

Team Amolang at the White Hat hacking competition in South Korea | By: The Washington Post | Getty Images

Despite agreeing on a truce on August following the alleged North Korean landmine blast that led to the death of two South Korean soldiers at the demilitarized zone, South Korea is still not letting its guard down as it hosts a hacking competition to prepare for possible North Korean cyber-attacks.

On March 17, Independent reported that South Korea's nuclear power plant operator suffered a cyber-attack in December 2014 and prosecutors found that the codes used for the attack was similar to the ones used by North Korean hackers.

"The malicious codes used for the nuclear operator hacking were the same in composition and working methods as the so-called 'kimsuky' that North Korean hackers use," a statement released by the Seoul central prosecutors' office noted.

CNN also noted on April 23 how the "Dark Seoul" cyber-attack on 2013 crippled 48,000 computers at major banks and broadcasters, wiping out all the contents of their hard disks.

"It would try to delete essentially all your files... then restart the system," noted digital forensic expert Joshua James. "You would come back up and nothing would be there."

"If it infected more financial systems, it could have deleted all financial data in Korea," said a professor at Chuncheon's Hallym University. "I mean, it is dangerous."

According to The Washington Post on Sunday, South Korea's cyber-attacks in the past years, allegedly originating from North Korea, pushed the National Intelligence Service and the Defense Ministry to boost the country's technological defenses by gathering computer geniuses to compete in the "South Korea White Hat Contest" in Seoul.

Qualifying rounds resulted to 16 teams that would be competing in the final round on Wednesday. The winners for the White Hat competition will be announced on Monday with a prize money amounting to $60,000.

The winners will also be prioritized when applying for intelligence or police jobs, while the younger ones have the option to work at the cyber command center as part of their compulsory military service.