Malware Infections at National Police Agency Headquarters and Affiliated AgenciesHacking Attempts on the National Police Agency Quadruple in Nine MonthsAttacks from Vietnamese IP Addresses Surge 49-Fold”Proactive Defense Using Agentic AI Is Needed”
#. On May 28, 2026, malware infected the National Police Agency’s spam-filtering server. A security server designed to defend against external threats had itself become a target. After the National Intelligence Service notified police of the incident, police identified a vulnerability in the security software as the cause and began addressing the situation, including immediately removing the infection. Because the server was connected to other systems, there was also a risk that the damage could spread. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency’s Security Cyber Investigation Unit is investigating the circumstances and those behind the incident.#. On August 5, 2026, malware was also found on the mobile website for the fitness center at the Police Human Resources Development Institute. Users who visited the website were redirected to a virtual-asset site. Police discovered the issue during an internal inspection and completely replaced the server with new equipment that had been patched against the vulnerability. The National Police Agency’s Cyber Terror Response Division is investigating the case.
Police, who investigate cybercrime, are increasingly becoming targets of hackers themselves. Hacking attempts targeting the National Police Agency have surged more than tenfold in three years, and servers and websites have actually been infected with malware. As advances in AI-powered hacking techniques lower the barrier to entry, calls are growing to strengthen the security systems of key national investigative agencies.Data submitted by the National Police Agency to Jung Chun-saeng, a Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, show that 32,904 hacking attempts targeting the agency were detected from January through September this year. That is more than four times the 7,770 attempts recorded for all of last year. The number of hacking attempts targeting the agency declined from 3,690 in 2021 to 3,389 in 2022 and 3,210 in 2023, before rising to 5,045 in 2024.
The sharp increase in hacking attempts is attributed to the automation of attacks using AI and the growing sophistication of hacking methods. In the past, hackers had to find system vulnerabilities themselves and try to break in. More recently, AI has taken over some of this process, enabling attackers to launch large numbers of attacks quickly and repeatedly. With the time and technical barriers to carrying out attacks reduced, even attackers with limited expertise can more easily attempt to hack systems.The distribution of detected cyberattacks by country has also changed significantly. Attacks originating in the United States totaled 7,007 this year, three times the 2,371 recorded last year. Attacks from Vietnam surged nearly 49-fold, from 120 last year to 5,920 this year. The number of attacks detected within South Korea also rose nearly 18-fold over the same period, from 260 to 4,644. The country where an attack is detected does not necessarily indicate the attacker’s actual location. Hackers can conceal their connection locations by routing traffic through virtual private networks (VPNs) or overseas proxy servers, making it difficult to identify the source of an attack based on IP addresses alone. When an attack’s route spans multiple countries, tracing those behind it and investigating the case can also be challenging.
As cyber threats grow, police are also stepping up their focus on internal security management. The National Police Agency regularly sends officers at local police stations simulated training emails designed to look like real phishing emails to assess their response procedures. It also distributes security inspection programs and requires officers to report the results. Even ordinary USB drives require separate approval before they can be used on work computers. Recently, police issued guidelines restricting document work on external networks to prevent the leakage of sensitive information, including investigative materials and personal data. A police official said, “There was a directive from the National Police Agency headquarters to remove even document-editing and PDF-related programs installed on external networks.”Police are also responding to cyber threats with support from the National Intelligence Service. The two agencies operate a dual security system: police security systems detect hacking attempts, while the National Intelligence Service separately monitors hacking traffic entering national institutions. Even with this layered security system, however, police have not been able to completely prevent actual malware infections. Malware has been found this year in both the National Police Agency headquarters server, which filters incoming malicious emails, and external-facing services at affiliated agencies, underscoring the importance of security management at points of contact with external networks. A National Police Agency official said, “As hacking becomes easier, attempts are increasing not only against specific institutions but also indiscriminate attacks targeting the general public,” adding, “We are working to continually strengthen our security capabilities, including through increased budget allocations, to respond to these circumstances.”Security experts say that proactive AI-powered defenses and international cooperation must be strengthened to counter increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Lim Jong-in, an emeritus professor at Korea University’s Graduate School of Information Security, said, “The National Police Agency is an easy target for hackers because it holds a large amount of sensitive information, including confidential investigative information and investigative techniques.” He added, “The AI-powered hacking that has recently been spreading is threatening because it can intelligently bypass existing defense systems and launch attacks quickly.” He emphasized, “Responding only after an attack has begun may be too late, so we need to establish a proactive and dynamic defense system using autonomous AI (agentic AI) and strengthen international cooperation.”
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Jung Chun-saeng said, “As a key investigative agency that handles confidential investigative information and the public’s sensitive personal data, the National Police Agency must ensure rigorous information security.” She added, “Given the surge in hacking attempts and actual cases of malware infection, it is necessary to review the entire security system and establish an AI-based proactive defense system.”
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