According to reports from BBC, North Korean hackers were able to hack into South Korea's military digital database and steal covert military plans. Around 235 gigabytes of data has reportedly been stolen from the Defence Integrated Data Centre in South Korea. The stolen data consists of a large cache of cache of military plans. 80% of the stolen data is yet to be identified.
The said cache consists of wartime contingency plans. The contingency plans outlined details of strategies to decapitate the North Korean leadership should the need arise.
Operations Plan 5015 had been updated to address not only the removal of North Korean leadership but also the growing nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
Information so far
The hacking attack first came to light in September last year. The details of the hack however are emerging only now. Rhee Cheol-hee, a member of the South Korean parliamentary committee told the BBC that around 300 classified documents were stolen. The military however has declined to comment on the event or share details of the leak.
It isn’t immediately clear how much damage the hack has caused to the joint preparedness of US-South Korean military. The treaty signed by US and South Korea calls upon the US to take operational control of the South Korean military in the event of a war.
Cyber-attacks propagated so far
According to South Korean lawmakers, Kim Jong Un was particularly desperate to lay his hands on the decapitation plan. North Korea employs a small militia of hackers many of whom have been trained abroad. This army of hackers has persistently staged numerous hacking attacks against neighbor South Korea and also elsewhere in the world.
The recent Windows Ransomware malware attack too was blamed on North Korean hackers. In May this year, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, told news agencies that bitcoins worth $5.3 million were taken in April according to a report from Fox News.
Where did the attack originate?
The IP addresses of the hackers have been traced to Shenyang, a region in China, long thought of as a bastion for North Korean hackers.
North Korea retorted by saying that all charges against the nation are baseless and fabricated by South Korea. President Donald Trump tweeted the following on Monday, “Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars & getting nothing. Policy didn’t work!”
It goes without saying that the attack and its repercussions won't help bring peace between the divided nations.
