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S Korea raises alert level amid cyber attack warnings

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-09 16:59

SEOUL: South Korea's spy agency said Thursday that it raised the alert level as an additional hacker attack on the country's major agencies is expected later in the day.

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The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it has stepped up its alert system for suspicious activities at government-run networks, running an emergency contingency team for a possible third attack.

Earlier Thursday Ahn Lab Inc., South Korea's largest network security company, said that another round of 24-hour cyber attacks on seven South Korean Web sites are expected around local time 6: 00 p.m. (0900 GMT).

According to the company, a file with a list of possible targets was detected in the virus that triggered the attacks, infecting at least 29.000 personal computers in the nation.

Two rounds of so-called "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) attacks, starting from Tuesday evening, hit major websites in South Korea, including those of South Korea's presidential office and 11 other government bodies.

The NIS said no damage on government agencies has been reported since the start of the cyber attacks on Tuesday.