South Korea says North Korea behind computer crash in March

A South Korean computer researcher looks at a computer monitor as he checks the shutdown computer servers of Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) at Evidence Acquisition Lab of Cyber Terror Response Center at National Police Agency in Seoul, South Korea last March 21, 2013. AP

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says an initial investigation has found that North Korean government agents were behind a March cyberattack that shut down about 32,000 computers and servers at South Korean broadcasters and banks.

An official at South Korea’s Internet security agency, Chun Kil-soo, told reporters Wednesday that the attack was similar to past North Korean hacking. He said investigators believe that six computers in North Korea were used to access South Korean servers using more than 1,000 IP addresses overseas.

The accusation comes as tensions run high on the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea delivering increasingly belligerent rhetoric in anger over UN sanctions and US-South Korean military drills. On Tuesday, the North said a nuclear war is imminent and recommended that foreigners in South Korea evacuate to safe places.