Technology

Names of North Korean defectors stolen in hacking attack

Identities of nearly 1,000 people who resettled in the south were taken in the incident

Photograph: iStock

Fri Dec 28 2018 - 11:06

The names and addresses of nearly 1,000 North Korean defectors who resettled in the South have been stolen in a hacking attack.

Officials from the Hana resettlement centre said they have been notifying those affected after discovering last week that one of its computers had been breached around November.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the names, home addresses and birthdays of 997 defectors living in the country’s south-east region were stolen.

Police are investigating the hacking attack but have yet to identify the source.

READ MORE

The ministry said it has found no further signs of hacking attacks or data breaches after investigating Hana’s offices around the country earlier this week.

Hana runs 25 offices nationwide to provide assistance to North Korean defectors who resettled in the South.

About 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea, mostly travelling via China, since the end of the Korean War in the Fifties. – AP

LATEST STORIES