Today is 'Information Security Day'... "Do not open unknown texts or emails"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] In early last month, Seoul National University Hospital was targeted by a hacking attack using malicious code. There were also indications that some personal information files held by the hospital were leaked. This case is currently under investigation by the Cyber Terrorism Investigation Unit of the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters.

A National Police Agency official stated, "Since it is the top national hospital handling sensitive information, we decided to respond directly to identify the intrusion path and to share and disseminate investigation techniques." Previously, in November last year, a major distribution company suffered a ransomware attack on its internal network, causing offline stores to suspend operations and suffer damage.

On the 14th, marking 'Information Security Day,' the police urged special caution as cyber attacks continue to increase in line with the spread of COVID-19 and the normalization of non-face-to-face lifestyles. The police predicted, "This year, sophisticated ransomware attacks that simultaneously execute file encryption and information leakage will increase, and the scale of damage will also expand."

According to the National Police Agency, a total of 4,344 cases of 'information and communication network infringement crimes,' including hacking and malicious code incidents, occurred last year. This represents a 19.4% increase compared to 3,638 cases in 2019. In the case of 'smishing,' which involves sending internet addresses (URLs) via text messages to install malicious apps and steal financial information, 822 cases occurred last year, more than quadrupling compared to the previous year.

Choi Jong-sang, head of the Cyber Investigation Division at the National Police Agency, said, "Simply not opening text messages from unknown senders or suspicious emails can prevent a significant portion of hacking damage," and added, "Basic security rules such as avoiding clicking on internet addresses whenever possible must be followed."

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