South Korea Upgrades Cyber Threat Warning Level Following North’s Kaesong Complex Closure

The South Korean government offices have upgraded the Information Operation Condition (InfoCon) cyber threat warning level fearing cyber-attacks from North Korea.

Following the North Korean long-range missile launch and closing of Kaesong Industrial complex, the South has increased its cyber threat level for a second time in less than a month, ZDnet reported Tuesday.

Three government offices that track cyber threats namely the ministry of Defense, National Information Service and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning raised the cyber threat level, the website reported.

"We believe there's a larger possibility that North Korea may launch cyber-attacks on the South, and recently upgraded our Information Operation Condition (InfoCon)," a defense ministry official was quoted as saying in the local media.

The Defense Ministry raised the InfoCon warning one notch to level three. The five-tier threat level system is used by the military to assess threats to the government's IT network.

South Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) also increased its cyberthreat assessment one notch from "moderate" or level one, to "substantial", the equivalent of level two, following a week of escalating tensions in East Asia after North Korea launched a space rocket on February 7 and put a small weather satellite into orbit.

The Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), an arm of the science ministry, said cyberthreats to the nation increased from moderate to substantial for private sector websites, ecommerce sites, and email addresses "because of [the] North Korean long-range missile launch and closing of Kaesong Industrial Complex".

"In substantial cyberthreat level [to the] private sector, KISA and MSIP recommend that every corporation raise cybersecurity monitoring, people update their PC software, and don't open unknown emails," a KISA official said.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service, its spy agency, could not be reached for comment on its cyberthreat assessment.

Late last month, the science ministry increased the cyberthreat level from normal to "moderate" about one week after computers in South Korea received a barrage of malicious emails, around the same time North Korea tested a nuclear device.

The Defense and Science ministries both said that no new series of cyber-attacks have been detected this time around. "We believe North Korea is more likely to launch cyber-attacks than before and we're keeping close tabs on potential signs," said one Defense ministry official, according to local media reports.