North Korea accused of cyberattack on nuclear power operator

North Korea launched a series of cyberattacks on South Korea’s nuclear power operator with the goal of eventually causing a malfunction at plant reactors, South Korean investigators said Tuesday.

Pyongyang is accused of hacking into the computer network of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., the South Korean state-owned nuclear power company, and exposing internal data. Investigators said the attacks took place in December.

{mosads}While no critical information about the plant was compromised, according to the probe, the alleged intrusions point to North Korea’s growing cyber aggression. The Korea Hydro attacks are the first to be publicly attributed to North Korea since a significant data breach hit Sony Pictures Entertainment last year.

“We condemn North Korea’s persistent cyber terror targeting of our country and the international community,” the South Korean Ministry of Unification said in a statement Tuesday.

News of the alleged attacks could raise tensions, as the United States and South Korea continue annual military drills that are opposed by Pyongyang. North Korea has already test fired several missiles into the sea in apparent retaliation for the drills.

Several pieces of evidence point to North Korea as the actor behind the Korea Hydro intrusions, according to South Korea, which had previously not named Pyongyang as the responsible party. 

Internet addresses connected to the attack were traced to North Korea, and a virus used to try to steal information from company employees had been previously attributed to the North.
 
Information about Korea Hydro plants was also posted on Twitter in December from servers in northeastern China and Vladivostok, Russia, investigators said.

South Korea says its infrastructure, banks and other critical sectors have come under sustained cyberattack from North Korea. Pyongyang has denied involvement in the Korea Hydro attacks, calling them a ploy to raise tensions on the peninsula.