Korea should be better prepared for cyberattack
Three public broadcasters and two financial institutions have yet to completely recover from the unprecedented paralysis of their computer networks caused by hackers Wednesday.
It is chilling to think of the scale of chaos had the cyberattacks by still unidentified hackers not been for “demonstration,” but for real destruction, and had the targets not been TV stations and banks but the nation’s power grid, waterworks or nuclear plants.
The attackers hinted there would be a second and third round of assaults, against which not just the affected institutions but the entire nation should remain alert. Even if their warnings end as such for now, however, the ongoing troubles are just the precursor of what could happen in the future, far more frequently _ and seriously.
Korea has just entered into an era of cyberwar in earnest, albeit begrudgingly and unprepared.
It is shocking in this regard that the related institutions, including the state TV KBS, had not even recognized the malignant codes embedded in their computer systems for months, let alone taking proper countermeasures. This, coming on top of a similar disruption of the Cheong Wa Dae website a few years ago, demonstrates how pitiably defenseless are the nation’s major institutions, public or private, against cyber threats from hostile forces.
Most urgent now is to discover who carried out the latest attack and why.
One usual suspect is North Korea, although officials are neither denying the possibility nor jumping to a hasty conclusion, rightly, before securing hard evidence. Pyongyang has sufficient motivation and capability, and there are more than just suspicions the communist regime was behind recent hackings of a couple of media outlets and financial firms. The North, claiming its own websites have been attacked by foreigners recently, has also vowed to retaliate.
According to news reports, the reclusive regime operates a unit of about 3,000 well-trained cyber warriors, whose hacking abilities are world-class, similar to China’s Unit 61398. What all this means is Seoul must act quickly, not just in enhancing its thin cyber defense but in establishing its own cyber warfare command as a joint effort of the government, military and business sector. The government ought to foster manpower, and require all major institutions to maintain certain levels of cyber security stance, through relevant legislation if necessary.
Officials here must realize why the United States and China are engaged in a war-of-nerves over hacking allegations. Military experts say there will come a time soon when nations should worry more about cyber attacks than even nuclear bombs.
President Park Geun-hye wasted no time in instructing swift damage control, and saying she would convene a conference to discuss countermeasures at a national level. These are all moves in the right direction, but Park should move forward further to prevent possible attacks from North Korea and other forces, strengthen the nation’s cyber defenses, and develop the ability to immediately strike back when attacked.
If not, Korea’s self-praise as a global IT power couldn’t ring hollower.
This is The Korea Times editorial for Friday, March, 22, 2013.
