South Korea says North Korean hackers stole technical data on spy planes and tanks

The South Korean government has accused North Korea of stealing critical information about major military equipment.

Citing reports in local media, BleepingComputer says South Korea’s ruling People Power Party (PPP) has warned about the theft of information on K2 tanks and Baekdu and Geumgang spy airplanes.

The data was reportedly stolen after engineers working on the equipment changed companies. The new company was hacked, and the crooks managed to take design blueprints, development reports, as well as information about the tank’s overpressure system, with them in an external storage drive. The new company also allegedly tried to export the technology to an unnamed Middle Eastern firm, meaning the leak could be even bigger.

Not an option, but a necessity

The K2 tank is South Korea’s main battle tank, and that the country currently has 260 units currently serving. Another 150 are being planned, it added.

Baekdu and Geumgang are spy airplanes that the country uses to monitor its border with its northern neighbor, as well as their military activities.

The PPP has urged the country’s political parties to come up with new cybersecurity measures immediately, to prevent future incursions and successful cyber-espionage campaigns.

"Moreover, as North Korea's cyberattacks become more widespread and bold by the day, enacting the Basic Cyber Security Act to prevent North Korea's hacking and technology theft is no longer an option but a necessity," PPP said in a statement. “In addition, in order to protect our national interests, we must quickly pursue a revision of the criminal law that expands the scope of application of espionage laws to ‘foreign countries.’ "

The name of the group behind the theft was not mentioned, but we do know North Korea has a huge government department dedicated to cyber-warfare. Part of that department is Lazarus, an infamous threat actor that was attributed with some of the biggest cryptocurrency heists in history.

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