According to Sophos it seems that cyber-tension between North and South Korea is increasing of late. Not least thanks to allegations from the South that officers of the military command and control centre have been targeted by the North in a spyware attack on the orders of the infamous electronic warfare division.
It is being speculated that the bog standard malicious email attachment style attack hit various military contacts on the Won Jeong Hwa hitlist. Miss Won, 35, is apparently facing trial for treason after her defection Northwards three years ago. It is said the she did a Mata-Hari and seduced army officers during a tour of South Korean military bases. Pretending to just be lecturing about the evil of Kim II Sung, she faces charges of actually spying and sleeping her way to military secrets all the time.
"North Korea is the latest in this year's roll call of countries accused of engaging in cyber warfare," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. "While it's difficult to prove that this sort of espionage is happening as computer systems give hackers the anonymity they need, countries around the world have been spying for centuries and there's no reason to believe they wouldn't now use more up to date methods - along with the age old technique of deploying a pretty woman to weadle out the information. In this instance, it's not known if any military secrets were stolen, but it's an embarrassing breach of security. To defend against these attacks, no matter who is behind them, it's essential that all organisations ensure their computer systems are fully protected and up to date with security solutions."