North Korean IP addresses detected probing South Korean financial networks: Report

A large number of internet protocol addresses traced to North Korea have been detected attempting to scan the networks of South Korean financial institutions, Seoul-based news agency Yonhap reported on Oct 28.According to the report, the South Korean authorities sent a notice last week to financial firms, including cryptocurrency exchanges, warning of “scanning-type access attempts targeting the financial sector from North Korean IPs”, marking the first official confirmation of the North’s involvement.Scanning-type access refers to attempts to probe a system for vulnerabilities or open network ports that could serve as entry points for later attacks.The authorities said they detected a large volume of access attempts from multiple North Korean IPs continuously since 3am on Oct 21, with over 4.4 million attempts logged by the time the notice was issued.They urged companies to review their information security systems for anomalies and report any suspicious findings via such IP addresses to the authorities, Yonhap reported.No cases have been reported so far in which scanning attempts from North Korean IPs led to an actual security breach or damage, according to industry sources cited by the Yonhap report.A series of hacking-related incidents has emerged in South Korea since late September, with cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb and asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments among those affected. KYODO NEWS