SEOUL, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- North Korean hackers stole files from the computers of South Korean lawmakers and hacked into servers at the presidential Blue House, according to Seoul's spy agency.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Tuesday government audit data was stolen from three personal computers that belong to members of the National Assembly, Newsis reported.
Another 11 computers belonging to government aides were hacked and sensitive data stolen, South Korean opposition party lawmaker Shin Kyoung-min said. South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported North Korea also attempted cybertheft after infiltrating computers stationed in Seoul's Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry and the Blue House, the office of the president.
The hacking took place in early October, and the NIS managed to block the attempts on the Blue House and the ministries. Ruling party lawmaker Lee Cheol-woo said new security measures had been implemented at the Blue House and that the National Assembly Secretariat had been notified.
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North Korean acts of data breach are not new. South Korea has held North Korean hackers responsible for the infiltration of multiple servers at Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power in December and for launching attempts to steal sensitive data from employees.
North Korean has denied any involvement with the hacking of nuclear power data and previously said the South Korean conclusion was "ignorant, heavy-handed and nonsensical," despite Seoul's findings, which included a North Korean IP address used in previous data breaches.
During the parliamentary audit held Tuesday, the NIS also said North Korea is not yet capable of miniaturizing nuclear warheads, and that Pyongyang was not getting ready for a long-range missile launch, Yonhap reported. The NIS said North Korea might be taking its cues from longtime ally China – Beijing has been opposed to the missile launches.
The NIS did state, however, North Korea was preparing for a fourth nuclear test.
