North Korean hackers tried to conduct cyberattacks and obtain data from South Korean pharmaceutical companies, but the intelligence services of South Korea prevented the hacking attempt, Ha Tae-keung, a member of the South Korean parliament's intelligence committee, said on Friday
SEOUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2020) North Korean hackers tried to conduct cyberattacks and obtain data from South Korean pharmaceutical companies, but the intelligence services of South Korea prevented the hacking attempt, Ha Tae-keung, a member of the South Korean parliament's intelligence committee, said on Friday.
"The National Intelligence Agency only reported that there were attempts by North Korean hackers to hack domestic pharmaceutical companies, but it did not disclose which companies and how many of them were attacked," Ha, who was briefed on the matter alongside other members of the committee, said, as quoted by the News1 outlet.
The cyberattacks may have been directed at companies developing vaccines against the coronavirus, according to the News1 media outlet.
North Korean hackers did not cause any damage to the companies since the National Intelligence Agency were able to stop them on time.
The South Korean government accused North Korea several times of attempting to conduct cyberattacks on banks and media outlets. Between January and July, North Korea was accused of carrying out different cyberattacks against the South Korean Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology. Pyongyang has rejected the allegations of its involvement in cybercrime.
