North Korean Hackers Breach Two South Korean Chip Gear Makers

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Yoolim Lee and Shinhye Kang
·1 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Cyberattackers backed by Pyongyang have infiltrated two South Korean semiconductor equipment firms since last year, potentially to steal intel for a domestic chipmaking program, Seoul’s spy agency said on Monday.

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The agency advised companies to take precautions after detecting attacks from the North in December and this past February, in which hackers stole blueprints of products and manufacturing facilities. They employed a technique dubbed “living off the land,” which relies on installed software and is harder to detect, the National Intelligence Service said in a statement.

The agency didn’t disclose the details of the hacking group or the targets, except to say the perpetrators focused on servers connected to the internet. North Korea may have begun preparing to produce its own semiconductors because of difficulties procuring chips due to sanctions, it added.

North Korea has been accused of sponsoring large-scale cyber-attacks to target banks around the world, steal defense secrets, extort money through ransomware and hijack digitally mined currency. Researchers say it targets its democratic southern neighbor in particular, with which it remains technically at war.

The spy agency said Monday Pyongyang may have begun focusing cyber-attacks on the chip sector since the second half of last year, to meet increased demand for the development of satellites and missiles.

Read more: South Korea Voices Concerns Over N. Korea-Russia Military Ties

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