South Korea preparing for cyber war

South Korea is determined not to be caught off guard again when it comes to cyber attacks directed against her. Mimicking the US defensive steps, the South Korea Ministry of Defense set up a Cyber War Center, which along a cyber police force will be charged with protecting government organizations and economical subjects from hacker attacks.

The Cyber War Center has been formed as an agency within the South Korean National Intelligence Service, and they have already hired 3,000 security experts. One of the reasons behind the creation of this branch was the rising number of cyber attacks that have been deployed against the country by its neighbor – North Korea.

Every day, there are more and more attacks being deployed from Northern Korean locations. According to the Strategy Page, hackers are trying to infiltrate the Southern Korean networks and steal as much data as possible, especially military information. It seems that the war that started in 1950 (and has never technically ended) is being continued by other means.

But what cyber capabilities does North Korea have? Two decades have already passed since the Mirim College started training cyber security experts – or hackers, as I’m sure that South Korea prefers to call them. A few years later, Moranbong University was also dedicated to the education of future cyber warriors. South Korea believes that their neighbor has around 1,000 skilled hackers and Internet technicians at its disposal at the moment.

Another important detail regarding the whole situation is that North Korea has historically been supported by China. Its Internet connections come from China, and although now there are indications that the attacks do originate in North Korea, it is possible that they have been previously trying to pass off their attacks as Chinese in origin.

And while there is a widely held belief that a closed off and rigidly controlled country like North Korea is not capable of training experts flexible enough to pose a serious danger, there is always the possibility that such speculations could be wrong. South Korea, obviously, believes in being prepared for whatever comes her way.