https://techmonitor.ai/technology/cybersecurity/north-korean-cyberattacks-on-south-korea-kimsuky

South Korean nuclear research body the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has revealed it was hacked by North Korean advanced persistent threat (APT) group Kimsuky. It is the latest in a string of attacks on South Korean government targets and national infrastructure orchestrated by Kimsuky and other state-backed APT groups from North Korea, as its government seeks to disrupt its neighbour.

In a statement, KAERI said it had been hacked through a VPN system vulnerability, claiming “the attacker IP is now blocked and the VPN system security update is applied”. The damage from the hack is as yet unknown. If Kimsuky has leaked vital information to the DPRK there could be serious national security implications for South Korea. Representative Ha Tae-keung of the People Power Party, South Korea’s main opposition party said: “If the state’s key technologies on nuclear energy have been leaked to North Korea, it could be the country’s biggest security breach, almost the same level as a hacking attack by the North into the defence ministry in 2016.”