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Cyberattack surges against South Korean institutions

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2026-10-04 02:51 UTC → 2026-10-04 04:03 UTC · added ~~removed~~

South Korean government and judicial institutions have experienced a significant surge in cyberattacks. In the health sector, hacking attempts against the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) rose sharply, with total attempts across five major health and welfare institutions increasing by 608.5% from 2022 to 2024. Most of these attempts were aimed at information theft or collection, with unauthorized access originating from the United States, China, Germany, and India. Parallel to these developments, the South Korean court network saw a massive increase in activity. Between January and August, the court's security systems detected 239,145 hacking attempts, a ~~2.36-fold~~ 2.4-fold increase compared to the same period in 2023. Monthly data indicates that March experienced the highest volume of attacks, reaching 48,263 attempts, following a period where monthly attempts typically remained below 20,000. Concerns ~~have been raised~~ persist regarding the National Court Administration’s ~~failure to utilize a~~ management. A 1 billion won security budget intended for equipment went entirely unused due to procurement delays. Additionally, ~~questions of~~ accountability ~~persist~~ remains a point of contention following a previous breach linked to North Korean hacking groups that ~~resulted in the leak of~~ leaked approximately 1,014 GB of data. Internal audits regarding that incident resulted in no disciplinary actions for the ten officials under investigation, with most receiving only warnings or being cleared of wrongdoing.

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