The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Garbage collector mistakes sex doll for corpse

  • 3

    Free subway rides for elderly emerge as headache for Seoul mayor

  • 5

    Korea seeks measures to better protect foreign workers

  • 7

    Retailers return to Myeong-dong as more foreign tourists visit

  • 9

    Is non-consensual sex not rape?

  • 11

    4 South Korean activists arrested for executing orders from Pyongyang

  • 13

    President pledges support for Korean chipmakers to overcome crisis

  • 15

    $120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing

  • 17

    Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people

  • 19

    China imposes mandatory virus tests for arrivals from Korea only in latest protest over curbs

  • 2

    Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy

  • 4

    Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers

  • 6

    Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone

  • 8

    ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views

  • 10

    Japanese comic series 'Slam Dunk' enjoys resurgence on back of animated film

  • 12

    INTERVIEWA touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene

  • 14

    Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea

  • 16

    Income gap widening among workers

  • 18

    Korea's presidential couple celebrates recovery of Cambodian boy who received heart surgery

  • 20

    Retired actress Shim Eun-ha denies rumor of return

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
Fri, February 3, 2023 | 19:03
Politics
Chinese hackers threaten to attack S. Korean cybersecurity watchdog
Posted : 2023-01-25 16:58
Updated : 2023-01-26 16:11
Jack Lau
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
Screenshot of the Korean East-West Mind Science Association website after being compromised by a hacker group that calls itself 'Dawn Cavalry.' Korea Times file
Screenshot of the Korean East-West Mind Science Association website after being compromised by a hacker group that calls itself "Dawn Cavalry." Korea Times file

Group attacks 12 South Korean research, academic agencies

By Jack Lau

A foreign hacker group, apparently a Chinese one, attacked the websites of a dozen mostly research and academic institutions in South Korea over the Lunar New Year holiday, the country's cyber-safety agency said on Wednesday.

The hacker group, which identifies itself as Dawn Cavalry, said on its public channel on messaging app Telegram that its next target is the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA), which is the first government agency to be identified as a target of the group's cyberattacks.

"The next target is KISA," a Dawn Cavalry administrator wrote in a message in Chinese and English on Telegram. "The specific invasion list is waiting for the official reply from South Korea."

"So far, the South Korean government has reported breaches from only 12 agencies, but I've deleted more databases and websites than that."

Some of the compromised websites have recovered and are functioning normally, but most are still reeling from the attack and could not be accessed on Wednesday afternoon. Hacked homepages feature a message of the hacker group's logo and name in Chinese characters and English. Underneath them is a phrase that reads, "We Declare an Invasion of the South Korean Internet."

KISA told The Korea Times that it cannot confirm if the hackers were Chinese nationals and whether they were state-sponsored. Dawn Cavalry wrote in its Telegram channel in English and simplified Chinese, which is used mainly in mainland China.

The Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy (RICON) became Dawn Cavalry's first target, KISA said. The hacker group said Friday on its website that it had leaked the personal information of the institute's staff members and research fellows, including their names, email addresses and job titles. Its website remained inaccessible.

Two days later, on Tuesday, 11 other South Korean academic institutions sustained similar cyberattacks by the group, including The Korea Association for Education and The Korean East-West Mind Science Association, a non-profit group dedicated to the rehabilitation of visually impaired people, and The Korean Society for the Study of Educational Principles.

The hackers broke into their web servers and replaced the website hosted on them with their messages written in Korean.

"We will continue to hack Korea's public and government networks, and looking forward to our next move, we will hack a wide range of internal South Korean networks," said the message, written in Korean, set against a background inspired by The Matrix's digital rain. "Yes, we are back."

Most of these institutions have websites that do not support encrypted data transfers from the user and the web server, making them vulnerable to cyberattacks and eavesdropping of private information.

The source code of the website included hidden comments written in simplified Chinese, which is used primarily in mainland China. The same code could be found in Chinese developer blogs and tutorials for creating the Matrix-inspired background.

"Our team is an independent team. Our team will use South Korea as a training ground for members, and every one of them will take part in actions invading South Korea," Dawn Cavalry said on Telegram. The group's name apparently refers to the ancient Chinese military contingent.

Only the administrator can upload posts on the Dawn Cavalry channel, and its subscribers can leave only comments. As of Wednesday, the channel had over 500 subscribers.

Regarding the question of how South Korea became a target, the administrator wrote that they were annoyed by some streaming stars from Korea.

The group warned on its website on Jan. 7 that its actions against South Korea would cause "data leaks to happen for a long time."

"An investigation into the cyberattack is underway," a KISA staffer said on condition of anonymity. "We find it difficult to identify who those hackers are and why they targeted South Korea, and so on, mainly because the cyberattack occurred during the holiday and many of our inquiries were not answered yet."

Jack Lau is a reporter with the South China Morning Post. He is currently based in Seoul, writing for both The Korea Times and the South China Morning Post under an exchange program.


Emailjack.lau@ktimes.com Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
Top 10 Stories
1Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers
2Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone
3[INTERVIEW] A touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene INTERVIEWA touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene
4Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea
5Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people
6Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons
7[INTERVIEW] 'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula' INTERVIEW'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula'
8[INTERVIEW] US-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society INTERVIEWUS-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society
9[INTERVIEW] IMF expects no recession for Korean economy INTERVIEWIMF expects no recession for Korean economy
10Taxi passengers in Seoul taken aback by fare increase Taxi passengers in Seoul taken aback by fare increase
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy
2ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views
3$120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing $120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing
4PULL UP: VIVIZ returns with new song about gossipers PULL UP: VIVIZ returns with new song about gossipers
5Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth' Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth'
DARKROOM
  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

  • World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

    World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group