5-Year Total of 13,000 Hacking Attempts on Ministry of Industry and Affiliated Public Institutions... KOTRA Accounts for 1,327 Cases

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] It has been revealed that there have been as many as 13,000 cyberattack (hacking) attempts on the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and its affiliated public institutions over the past five years.

According to the "Status of Cyberattack Attempts and Analysis of Vulnerabilities in Major Information and Communication Infrastructure" data received on the 9th from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy by Gu Ja-geun, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee from the People Power Party, the total number of hacking attempts detected by security equipment at government agencies including the Ministry and its affiliated public institutions and private member organizations from 2016 to June this year was 12,839. The hacking attempts include website attacks, malware infections, and denial-of-service attacks.

By year, there were 3,725 attempts in 2016, 3,025 in 2017, 2,582 in 2018, 2,488 in 2019, and 1,019 attempts up to June this year.

Among the 40 public institutions under the Ministry, the institution most targeted by hacking was KOTRA, recording 1,327 attempts. Following were the Korea Testing Laboratory (765 attempts), Korea Energy Agency (725 attempts), Korea Gas Corporation (561 attempts), Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (364 attempts), Kangwon Land (365 attempts), and Korea Electric Power Corporation (203 attempts), which were major targets of hackers.

In particular, the number of hacking attempts on core information and communication infrastructure closely related to public life and important to industry, such as power generation companies, electricity, and nuclear power, was found to be a total of 2,542. The core infrastructure includes a total of 11 national energy-related institutions such as KEPCO, Korea Power Exchange, five power generation companies, Korea Gas Corporation, Korea District Heating Corporation, Korea Electric Power Technology, and KHNP.

Assemblyman Gu Ja-geun said, "Cyberattacks on key trade and energy institutions under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy have not decreased," adding, "It is necessary to expand the target institutions for technical support currently provided only to 11 key public institutions and strengthen cyber safety measures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.