Retired special ops’ personal data leaked

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Retired special ops’ personal data leaked

South Korean military authorities said Saturday that they were investigating the online leak of the personal information of thousands of retired members of the Army’s special forces.

Private information of 3,664 former special forces troops - their Web IDs, names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and the units they served - was leaked from a Web site of their fraternity organization, military investigators said.

Also leaked were the personal details of two active-duty special-warfare officers who subscribed to the Web site, they said.

“We confirmed their personal information was leaked on Google and deleted it today,” a military investigator said on the condition of anonymity.

Military officials said they were investigating whether the leak was a result of hacking. The South has become increasingly concerned about cyberattacks from North Korea.

For years, Seoul blamed Pyongyang for launching cyberattacks on its government and private Web sites. In May, South Korea accused the North of staging a cyberattack that disrupted operations at one of its largest banks, Nonghyup. North Korea, however, denied the accusations.

North Korea yesterday also denied a recent allegation that a group of 30 North Korean hackers had helped a South Korean criminal gang attain money by breaking into online game servers and collecting crucial data.

The North’s Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland said in a report that the allegations of hacking were an “unpardonable provocation.”

On Aug. 4, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said the North Korean hackers were hired to infiltrate Seoul-based online game servers and build so-called “auto programs” based on the data they siphoned. The agency said investigators arrested five South Korean members of the criminal gang on charges of building and distributing the illegal programs.

It was the first time North Korean hackers were suspected of making a profit from their activities.

“The puppet authorities in the South fabricated the hacking allegations to hurt [North Korea’s] external image and rationalize its confrontation [with the North],” said the Pyongyang-based committee.

“The South is also attempting to cover up its crackdowns on the progressive forces by raising groundless rumors about hacking [by North Koreans],” the committee said.


Yonhap


한글 관련 기사 [연합뉴스]

北 '온라인게임 해킹' 부인…"南당국의 도발"

북한의 대남기구인 조국평화통일위원회(조평통)는 14일 북한 해커들이 남한의 온라인게임 프로그램을 해킹했다는 우리 경찰의 발표를 부인하고 남한 정부를 비난했다.

조평통은 이날 서기국 보도를 통해 "최근 괴뢰공안당국은 '북의 해커들이 온라인게임 프로그램을 불법적으로 해킹했다'는 이른바 '북의 사이버 테러설'을 떠들어대고 있다"며 "이것은 우리에 대한 또 하나의 용납 못 할 도발"이라고 주장했다고 조선중앙통신이 전했다.

조평통은 또 "괴뢰 공안당국이 사이버 테러설을 내들고 있는 것은 공화국의 대외적 영상(이미지)을 흐려놓고 반공화국 대결정책을 합리화하며 사회적 이목을 다른데 돌려 위기를 모면해보려는 가소로운 술책"이라고 했다.

조평통은 이어 "그것은 또한 남조선의 진보세력에 대한 파쇼 공안당국의 도청과 해킹 등의 반인권적 범죄를 가리려는 불순한 기도에서 출발한 것"이라며 "남조선 보수패당은 사이버기술까지 동족대결과 반공화국모략에 악용하는 너절한 놀음을 당장 걷어치워야 한다"고 강조했다.

경찰은 지난 4일 북한 해커들이 남한 범죄집단과 짜고 국내 온라인게임 프로그램을 해킹해 외화벌이했다고 발표한 바 있다.
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