S. Korean Web sites hit by new DDoS attack, no damages reported
วันเสาร์ ที่ 05 มี.ค. 2554

SEOUL, March 5 (Yonhap) -- The Web sites of South Korea's key government agencies and financial institutions were hit by an expected cyber attack on Saturday although no actual damages were reported, the country's communications commission said.

The Korea and Communications Commission (KCC) said it detected the so-called distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks starting at 10:45 a.m., but Internet portals of such agencies as the presidential office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the National Assembly and local banks were all operating normally without any disruptions.

"With temporary problems experienced with the National Assembly Web site, all systems are working normally at present," the KCC said.

It claimed the ineffectiveness of the attack is mainly the result of downloaded antivirus software and most zombie computers that inadvertently carry out such attacks being turned off.

The latest attack came after authorities detected signs of DDoS trying to affect the Web sites of the presidential office and defense ministry on Thursday. This was followed by full-fledged attacks at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. respectively on the following day.

"While the attacks on Friday caused some disruptions, the severity has diminished," the KCC said.

It said despite the lack of damage, the government and local antivirus manufacturers, such as AhnLab Inc., will maintain their high alert levels for the present.

AhnLab said that it is carefully screening for mutations of the latest attack that could continue to pose problems but claimed any fallouts may be limited.

The latest string of DDoS attacks, caused by malicious codes that turn personal computers into zombie PCs, bears resemblance to the cyber attack that targeted local Web sites in July 2009.

mcot.net