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Seoul: South Korean intelligence has foiled North Korean attempts to hack into South Korean companies developing coronavirus vaccines, members of the South’s parliamentary secret service committee said Friday.
Ha Tae-keung said after being informed by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) that the agency failed to disclose how many and which drug manufacturers were attacked, but said the hacking attempts did no harm.
The revelation came after Microsoft said earlier this month that hackers working for the Russian and North Korean governments attempted to break into the networks of seven drug companies and vaccine researchers in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the United States.
The closed NIS briefings, during which information and analysis are shared with colleagues among key neighbors, provide rare public access to information about the secluded north.
Ha and another member, Kim Byung-kee, said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had taken some « unreasonable » measures because of the « paranoia » of COVID-19. .
They said these measures included banning fishing and salt production because of fears that seawater could be contaminated with the virus, and that around 110 in northeast China’s port of Dalian. 000 tons of rice from China were stranded.
« He has expressed emotional excess, anger, and signs of stress, and has increasingly given unreasonable orders, » Ha said.
North Korea has not confirmed any coronavirus infection, but the NIS had said an outbreak there could not be ruled out as the country had active trade and face-to-face exchanges with China before the border closed in late January.
Pyongyang has not given an official response to the recent US presidential election, but the government has urged all overseas diplomatic missions to exercise caution and not « provoke » the United States, Legislator Kim said.
North Korea, South Korea, Kim Jong-un
World News – AU – North Korea has tried to hack COVID-19 vaccine makers
Ref: https://www.smh.com.au
