On Twitter, hacking threat called a mere hoax

The hubbub surrounding the threat of a massive cyberattack against the South Korean government last week is just a ruse, a number of Twitter users have claimed, with many appearing to be calling the faker’s bluff.

The government beefed up security for websites of major state institutions after a person claiming to be a part of Anonymous, a global hacking collective, tweeted last week that a massive cyberattack would be launched against the South Korean government April 14.

The suspect, who goes by the name @AnonOpsokor on his Twitter account, said in Korean that the “revolution” would punish the government for wasting taxpayers’ money, distorting its media and repressing its people.

However, another Twitter user, @YourAnonNewsKR, stepped forward to call out @AnonOpsokor as a fake.

“Our opinion is that it will likely end up just as a [hoax]. Just for your reference, those who participated in the [cyberattack] on North Korea will not participate in this,” the user said.

@YourAnonNewsKR, who has more than 20,000 followers, claimed Anonoymous would not attack South Korea and asked that the message be retweeted. @YourAnonNewsKR also posted a tweet heralding a cyberattack by Anonymous against North Korea on June 25.

Though it may turn out to be a fake, the current threat, which was reported by a host of media last week, drew the government’s attention as Anonymous has previously carried out cyberattacks on government websites in several countries.

“We will be ready for it in cooperation with the National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Security and Public Administration,” said an official from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

Late yesterday, @AnonOpsokor’s Twitter account was closed, with many on the Twitter-sphere, including a user called @AnonymouKorea, declaring that the threat of the April 14 attack was successfully withdrawn.

@YourAnonNewsKR tweeted that @AnonOpsokor had cancelled the attack for lack of cause and that the South Korean government would not come under cyber attack on April 14.

BY MOON GWANG-LIP, PARK TAE-HEE [joe@joongang.co.kr]