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Australia Vulnerable to Korean Hacking Army

Nan writes "An army of more than 500 hackers hired by the North Korean military could find Australian businesses a "softer target" than their U.S. or European-based counterparts, according to security experts. The hacking army's mission is to break into South Korean, Japanese and American corporate networks to gather intelligence and steal trade secrets, according to reports."

13 of 329 comments (clear)

  1. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  2. Just a hype, most likely by metlin · · Score: 5, Informative

    From the article -

    "This is probably more boasting than a real threat. In the past we have seen similar claims from the Taiwanese and the East Timorese," said Hyppönen.

    Heh. Probably yet another of those notice us! notice us! type publicity stunt by N Korea.

    And even if they do hack into an odd website or two, people will start to take notice and will act on it. It's far easier to secure your networks than launch an offensive on N Korea.

    These guys just need to be ignored while they jump around their cages trying to garner attention.

  3. Re:In other news... by WaR.KiN · · Score: 5, Funny

    Time to send in Team America.

  4. Out of curiosity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Last I checked you needed electricity to run a computer, and last satellite photo I saw, the North Koreans didn't have any of that.

    I'm betting Aussie networks are safe from their North Korean TCP/Abacus layer attacks.

  5. Re:In other news... by Pantero+Blanco · · Score: 5, Funny

    You mean Slashdotting them? ;)

  6. It sounds familiar... by Cronopios · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I mean, it's just what the U.S. has been doing for years, wiretapping business and private conversations all over the world.

    Quote:
    According to a report commissioned by the European Union, entitled Development of Surveillance Technology and the Risk of Abuse of Economic Information, the system has, since the dissolution of the Soviet Empire, been partially dedicated to industrial espionage.

    According to the New York Times, the report claims that information gleaned through Echelon helped U.S. aerospace firm Boeing win a lucrative Saudi Arabian contract away from a European competitor, and that Echelon was used to help the American company Raytheon "win a bid for a $1.3 billion surveillance system for the Amazon forest away from Thomson-CSF, a French company."

    --
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    Internet Explorer is obsolete. Please upgrade to Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
  7. Korean Hacking Army by Raseri · · Score: 5, Funny

    The most out-of-shape military force on Earth. Their base of operations is their parents' basements. Their rations consist entirely of pizza and Bawls. Their uniform is jeans and a shirt with either the word "w00t!" (for grunts) or the phrase "i read your e-mail" (for officers). Their recruitment literature looks like this:

    HungLo2099: d000dz!!!!11!1!! u could 500000 pwn amerkians!!!1!!!!!
    Z3r0k3wl: kewl!!1! wehre do w3 sign up?
    HungLo69: OMG america iz teh suck!!1!!1 OMGWTFLOLOLOLOL!!!!!1!!1!111!!11!oneone!1
    HungLo2099: d00dz!! u also get free pizza and a t-shirt!!!!1!!!11!
    Z3r0k3wl: w00t!
    HungLo69: pwnage11!11!

    Trust me, I've seen it.

    --
    Writhe your naked ass to the mindless groove.
  8. Re:In other news... by DigitumDei · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well a week ago it was 600 hackers.

    Looks like some of them failed to perform and were "fired". ;) I figure every time they fail we should see this number drop. *can just see the article in a few months time "Korea's 34 man hacker army"

  9. You call that a root kit? by mikeophile · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's not a root kit.

    Here. Now this is a root kit, mate.

  10. Re:This is nuts. by torpor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "cut a few cables" .. uh huh.

    look, all it takes is *ONE* connection to the internet, in safe harbour somewhere, and they're back on again.

    just forget it. there's no way to 'cut them all off' from the 'net. its a preposterous idea.

    the only solution is diplomacy. these people clearly think that their position is the right one; well, why is that? learn the answer to that question, and use diplomacy ...

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  11. Australia not as backwards as people think by Exter-C · · Score: 5, Informative

    Many people like to think that australia and new zealand are backwards counties down in the middloe of nowhere. In reality many of Australian businesses adopt technology and security standards much faster than thier US counterparts.

    Its funny that many of the best security professionals throughout the 80s where based from Australia. This trend has continued and Australian businesses are often well prepared and secured. This is obviously a fairly big generalisation with companies like Optus having major breakings etc most of the major corporates in australia have a very good security history.

  12. Only 500 Hackers? by salvorHardin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, that Korean hacker training program must be tough... there were 600 of them a week ago.

  13. This story sounded like bullsh*t a week ago by Peter+Simpson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and it's getting riper. Sounds more like someone's trying to sell anti-hacker insurance. Personally, I'd be a lot more concerned about botnets than some alleged "security expert" warning about an "army of hackers" in some place he knows I can't check.

    There. Thanks for letting me get that out.