South Korea suspects North Korean involvement as networks go down at key banks, broadcasters

A number of Korean banks and broadcasters have reported that their networks and services were halted this afternoon due to a malware attack. Early speculation suggest the attacks may have come from neighbor North Korea, which last week accused the US and its allies of orchestrating network hacks.

The AFP reports that a number of computer networks have been “paralyzed”. Broadcasters KBS, MBC and YTN, as well as the Shinhan and Nonghyup banks, are reported to have confirmed network outages. Reuters reports that mobile operator LG Uplus also experienced service issues an account of what appeared to be a hack.

The Yonhap reports that Korean President Park Geun Hye is investigating the incidents. The news agency speculates that the issues are a result of North Korea involvement, but that is still to verified. A Presidential spokesperson confirmed that police and Korean intelligence agencies have briefed the President on the outages.

The AP provides additional color, claiming computers at KBS, YTN and MBC shut down around 2pm local time, but TV broadcasts continued unaffected. Computers at Shinhan Bank are said to have suffered issues from 2:20 pm with the bank’s internal system, online banking platform and ATMs were all affected.

We’re updating this story with more details as we have them.

Headline image via Maksim Kabakou / Shutterstock