North Korean Hackers Create Imitation Web Portal

Seoul’s spy agency stated that North Korean hackers have set up a phony website that looks almost identical to the popular South Korean web portal ‘Naver’, indicating a more sophisticated attempt to target users in the South.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) issued a warning this week, encouraging users not to browse the website known as ‘Naver Portal’ and stated that it was cooperating with international organizations to track down the activity of the organization suspected of being behind the false portal.

In a statement, Seoul’s spy agency stated, “North Korea’s hacking attacks targeting South Koreans are getting more elaborate”.

Naver, run by the same-named tech behemoth, is South Korea’s most popular web portal and search engine, offering a variety of services such as email, news aggregation, and online shopping.

The NIS did not specify how many people may have been duped by the portal or provided personal information.

On Thursday, a Naver official remarked, “We urge users to pay attention to the domain address when accessing Naver”.

North Korean hackers have been blamed for hacks worth millions of dollars, despite Pyongyang previously denying involvement in cybercrime.

The United Nations claimed earlier this year that North Korea stole more cryptocurrency assets in 2022 than in any other year.

According to international monitors, stolen funds have been channeled into North Korea’s sanctioned nuclear and missile programs.

According to the NIS, more than 70 percent of North Korean hacking attempts are via emails, with the majority of them appearing to be sent under the names of South Korean web portals such as Naver and Daum. These are referred to as ‘social engineering’ attacks.

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