Cyberattack by 12 Domestic Academic Institutions... Government Agencies Warned of Cyber Attacks

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] A Chinese hacker group attacked 12 academic institution websites in South Korea. They are also threatening a large-scale cyber attack against South Korean government agencies.

On the 25th, the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) announced that the Chinese hacker group known as 'Xiaoqiying' attacked 12 institutions including the Korean Linguistic Society, Korean Archaeological Society, Korean Social Science Education Society, Korean Parents Association, Korea National University of Education Early Childhood Education Research Institute, Korean Society for Basic Medical Science, Korean East-West Psychiatry Society, Korean Cleft Lip and Palate Society, Korean Society for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Visually Impaired, Jeju National University Institute of Education and Science, Korean Educational Principles Society, and the Korea Construction Policy Research Institute.

The hacked websites are currently inaccessible. Some websites display a page with the hacker group's logo and the phrase "Declaring Invasion of Korean Internet." Xiaoqiying warned, "We will continue to hack South Korea's public and government networks," and "We will hack a wide range of internal Korean networks."

Xiaoqiying has identified about 2,000 targets including KISA, domestic government agencies, and media outlets as their next targets. Although no anomalies have been detected on websites so far, KISA has begun preemptive measures. They have disseminated related information to over 26,000 chief information security officers of companies and activated emergency reporting channels. On the previous day, Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT, visited the KISA Internet Incident Response Center (KISC) to inspect the cyber attack response system for domestic companies and institutions.