The government task force to investigate the information breach incident at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corp. responsible for operation of nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, said that the perpetrators of the data stealing were likely highly trained programmers and computer experts. As it was found out the criminals used multiple Internet protocols from overseas including those of the United States, the task force will ask the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation for information sharing.
An official with the investigative team said on December 22, "Given the hackers used several Internet protocols originating from the United States and Japan and the way they post warnings without the fear of leaving evidence, they are likely to be a highly experienced criminal group, rather than hacking individuals doing it for fun and personal reputation. It may take months or longer to arrest the perpetrators."
The task force doesn't rule out a possibility of North Korea being involved in the hacking attack. That's because the Twitter account ID of a user who is likely one of the suspects was "Anin Bosal," a North Korean slang for "pretending not to know." But the ID may have been used to confuse the investigators.
Lee Gwang-seop, vice minister for the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, said on the 22nd in a press conference held at the Sejong government complex, "There is no way of knowing yet how the data were pilfered and how much data were lost. It may take a lot of time to find the criminals and come up with strengthening security measures."
The current incident began on December 15 when a supposedly anti-nuclear environmental group called "Who Am I" disclosed personnel data of 17,000 current and former employees of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power on its blog pages. As the state-run enterprise didn't realize the seriousness of the incident, the advocacy group followed up this time on the 18th with the disclosure of six files including plumbing plans and nuclear reactor control program manuals of Wolsung and Gori reactors. As the technical data were revealed, the situation at the company turned abruptly.
On the following day, the activists divulged another nine files including the reactors' valve plans and internal system screen capture with a statement titled "Warning to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power." In the early morning of the 21st, it additionally revealed four files including the design plans and manuals of the reactors in Wolsung and Gori. Despite the revelation of almost 20 files in three occasions, the company has yet to find out whether it was due to hacking or inside job.
Source: The Korea Economic Daily
