Korea National Diplomatic Academy’s Online Education System Hacked for 9 Months
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “Significant Amount of Data Leaked”
Five Months After Discovery, Authorities Still Unable to Identify Perpetrator or Full Extent of
An unprecedented incident has occurred in which the online education system of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy was hacked over a long period of time. It appears that the personal information of thousands of people has been leaked, including not only former and current diplomats who have completed the academy’s curriculum, but also civil servants from various government ministries who have been dispatched as attachés to overseas missions. Intelligence authorities are also investigating the possibility that the attack may have been carried out by a North Korea-related hacker organization.
On the 21st, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the hacking incident, stating, “It is currently difficult to determine the exact extent of the breach,” but added, “We are assuming that a substantial amount of information has been leaked.”
According to a press release from the ministry the previous day, an unknown attacker took control of the system’s server between April and May last year and maintained access until February of this year. This means hacking occurred for approximately nine months. The diplomatic academy operates multiple training programs, ranging from the regular course for diplomatic candidates to programs for outgoing heads of overseas diplomatic missions, new section chiefs and assistant directors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and foreign language training courses. Since virtually all former and incumbent Korean diplomats are subject to such training, the volume of leaked information is expected to be extensive. However, it is reported that the compromised system was not connected to the ministry’s internal work network.
Hot Picks Today
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately shut down the system as soon as it became aware of the hacking incident and initiated an investigation with intelligence authorities. However, even after about five months, the ministry has yet to determine the full scale of the breach or identify the perpetrators. An official from the ministry said, “So far, we lack sufficient technical evidence to definitively identify those responsible.”
This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.
© The Asia Business Daily. All rights reserved. Unauthorized AI training and use prohibited.
Click Here For The Original Source.
