10th September 2017
By Gim Giheung
This year the number of hacking attempts from China has soared. According to a statement from Senator Bak Juseon on the 10th of September, between January and August 8,263 cyber attacks targeting the foreign ministry were detected. Last year 8,482 were counted in total throughout the year. Cyber attacks and hacking attempts coming from Chinese IP addresses were the most commonly reported type of attack last year. According specifically to IP addresses, last year 2,551 attacks originated from China.
What’s more, one source noted that China’s strong opposition to the placement of the THAAD missile system has been in full swing, and it has been suggested that this may have affected the surge in cyber attacks from China. It was actually the placement of the THAAD system on Korean soil which has led to Chinese hacker groups turning their attention to Korea, causing a number of cases where Korean government sites were not available thanks to DoD attacks.
Apart from China there were 596 cases [last year] of the US undergoing cyber attacks and hacking originating in other foreign countries. Korea was targeted 332 times by attacks (not originating in China) and France was similarly attacked 105 times.
If we look at the various different cyber attacks by type unauthorised access attempts are the most common. Attacks on government webpages and attempting to hijack email accounts have also been recorded.
Analysis: it’s difficult to parse the distinction between “cyber attacks” and “hacking attempts” made in this article, but the sheer scale of attacks originating from China is startling. Are these types of actions simply not discussed at a diplomatic level between the two countries?
