North Korean hackers may have stolen US war plans

Well... this is the "Information Age"... Hackers from Iran getting into Twitter and we have the Un-maned UAV's getting hacked into. Looks like the third world countries are getting up to date on the computer technology.

Spies and "Cold War" techniques have taken on a whole new frontier. Hacking computers have become a necessity now... and it seems that there will always be a hole or back door in your digital security.

I guess they are going to have to go back to the "Drawing Board", if war does break out with North Korea.

Let me know your thoughts.

Source: Guardian

South Korea's military is investigating a cyber attack in which North Korean hackers may have stolen secret defence plans outlining Seoul and Washington's strategy in the event of war on the Korean peninsula.

The highly sensitive information, codenamed Oplan 5027, may have found its way into hostile hands last month after a South Korean officer used an unsecured USB memory stick to download it.

It reportedly contained a summary of military operations involving South Korean and US troops should North Korea conduct a pre-emptive strike or attempt to invade.

According to the Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, the document outlines troop deployments, a list of North Korean targets, amphibious landing scenarios and how to establish a post-war occupation.

The Yonhap news agency said the plan allowed for the deployment of 700,000 US troops in the event of a full-scale war

That could be misleading. The IP was tracked back to a Chinese address. No one is claiming China could have done it even though it came from their territory.

Yonhap news agency also reported the hackers used a Chinese IP address. It said the North's involvement was not immediately confirmed, also citing military officials it did not identify.

Wasn't it Chinese hackers that got into the power grid earlier this year.

April 8, 2009
By Siobhan Gorman
Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.

"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official. "So have the Russians."

The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn't target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. "There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official said, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year."

reply to post by x2Strongx


Why is this supprising? "We have met the enemy and they is us !" ... POGO

2nd line ... If you do not understand this YOU are not old enough!

I cant understand why they would have this kind of information on computers conneected to the internet. Surely information as sensitive as this would be on an intranet.

Originally posted by x2Strongx
Well... this is the "Information Age"... Hackers from Iran getting into Twitter and we have the Un-maned UAV's getting hacked into. Looks like the third world countries are getting up to date on the computer technology.

Has this actually been proven though? The twitter attack, from my understanding, did not directly involve twitter in that "they" were compromised, but a 3d party hosting site.. Regardless the impact was felt but the smear campaign and propaganda appears to be in full swing.

Sorry didn't mean to deviate from the posts main objective here, but this was a precursor. Back to the OP....I fail to see how it has been determined that North Korea actually hacked into anything? Obviously details would be scarce given the scope but from the article it appears as though a South Korean was in the wrong by not following secure procedures. How the info got from there is not clear. Looks more like standard espionage but then that doesn't hold the glitzy appeal or hollywood like grabbing headline.

brill

[edit on 24-12-2009 by brill]

The way US computer are being hack by the Chinese and North Korea it would not surprise me if the US government has set up computers to be hacked.

Could these stolen war plans be a modern day "Operation Mincemeat".
en.wikipedia.org...

It would be a cheap price to pay to have the north Koreans change there war plans so we could wipe them out with air power.

EVERYONE knows what EVERYONE's plans are....
I think that's exactly what has prevented another major war.

When someone new, like Iran, comes to the table... It changes everyone's plans. That's why they must be dealt with.

Surely the US have all the real plans off the net...maybe they leave fake stuff for other countries to hack?
Letting real plans get hacked seems too silly,but you never know.