North Korean Hackers Create Fake Websites Similar To South Korea's Popular Web Portal

JAKARTA - South Korea's National Intelligence Agency (NIS) revealed that North Korean hackers have created a fake website that is almost identical to South Korea's popular website, Naver, in a more sophisticated effort to target users in South Korea.

NIS issued a warning this week, urging people not to access websites called "Naver Portal" and saying they were working with overseas organizations to track the group's activities believed to be responsible for the fake portal.

"North Korea's hacking attack targeting South Koreans is increasingly complicated," the intelligence agency said in a statement on Wednesday, June 14, quoted by Reuters.

Naver, operated by a technology company of the same name, is the most widely used web portal and search engine in South Korea, and offers a variety of services ranging from email, news aggregation, to online shopping.

NIS did not mention how many people might have been deceived by the fake portal or had disclosed personal information.

"We urge users to pay attention to the domain address when accessing Naver," said a representative from Naver on Thursday, June 15.

North Korean hackers have been accused of cyberattacks that make millions of dollars, although Pyongyang has previously denied involvement in cybercrimes.

Earlier this year, the United Nations (UN) reported that North Korea had stolen more crypto assets in 2022 than in the previous year. International observers say that stolen money has been channeled into North Korea's nuclear and missile programs that the West has criticized.

More than 70% of attempts to hack from North Korea were carried out by email, most of which pretended to be sent under the names of South Korean web portals such as Naver and Daum, NIS revealed last month, describing them as "social engineering" attacks.