▲ This photo, taken March 16, 2023, shows a demonstration of running a ballot counting device held at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

election watchdog-cybersecurity checks

Election watchdog's cybersecurity system vulnerable to hacking attacks: NIS

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEONGNAM, South Korea, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- The voting and ballot counting systems at the state-run election watchdog remain vulnerable to potential hacking attacks by North Korea, the intelligence agency said Tuesday.

Announcing the outcome of a joint cybersecurity checkup on the National Election Commission (NEC), the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said North Korea could penetrate into the election watchdog's network "at any time" due to its weak security system, though no such infiltration has been identified.

The NIS and the Korea Internet and Security Agency, the internet safety watchdog, jointly conducted the cybersecurity checkup on the NEC between July and September amid criticism that the watchdog did not do enough to secure its systems from hacking attempts.

The probe showed the NEC had multiple cybersecurity vulnerabilities to hacking attempts in terms of the management of its voter register, ballot counting and early voting systems.

Potential hackers could have penetrated the NEC's election-managing network so as to manipulate registered voter information and the outcome of an election, the NIS said.

The spy agency also said classified NEC documents were leaked in April 2021, as a North Korean hacking organization identified as "Kimsuky" used a malicious code to affect an internet PC at the election watchdog to steal information.

In June, South Korea imposed unilateral sanctions on Kimsuky, a unit within the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's intelligence agency, in response to North Korea's botched launch of a military spy satellite.

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