Earlier today, reports of a number of cyberattacks against various South Korean targets hit the news.
The attackers, going by the handle “Whois Team” left a number of messages during the defacements:
The code used for defacement, posted by an anonymous user to the “pygments.org” forum (see http://pygments.org/demo/68313/) indicates several e-mails used by the attackers:
arrFadeTitles[0] = “APTM4st3r@whois.com”;
arrFadeTitles[1] = “dbM4st3r@whois.com”;
arrFadeTitles[2] = “d3sign3r@whois.com”;
arrFadeTitles[3] = “vacc1nm45t3r@whois.com”;
arrFadeTitles[4] = “r3cycl3r@whois.com”;
arrFadeTitles[5] = “s3ll3r@whois.com”;
The screenshots from victim’s computers indicate the at “Wiper” type of malware was also used. We have previously written about two other “Wiper”-style malwares: Iranian Wiper and Shamoon.
So, is this an isolated incident or part of a bigger cyberwar campaign? Honestly speaking, we don’t know. If a nation state is NOT behind these attacks, then it’s just cyber-terrorism; cyberwar requires a nation state to be behind the attacks. In general, if the attacks target critical infrastructure, they can be considered cyber-terrorism. According to the definition of critical infrastructure, banks can be considered as such, therefore, this counts as a cyberterrorism attack.
Previous incidents like Stuxnet and Wiper were part of an ongoing cyberwar campaign that went for years, although in a more stealthy fashion.
Obviously, the attacks were designed to be ‘loud’ – the victims are broadcasting companies and banks. This makes us think we are not dealing with a serious, determined adversary but script kiddies or hacktivists looking for quick fame.
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