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South Korea: IP Address Used in Cyberattacks Not Chinese After All Reuters

The address in question is used by one of the affected banks for internal purposes

Mar 22, 2013 16:21 GMT  ·  By
It's still uncertain if there's a connection between the Whois Team and the attacks against banks and broadcasters
   It's still uncertain if there's a connection between the Whois Team and the attacks against banks and broadcasters

Earlier this week, numerous South Korean organizations, including banks and TV networks, were hit by a cyberattack that temporarily disrupted their operations. Shortly after the attack, experts claimed to have identified a Chinese IP address.

However, upon having a closer look, the Korea Communications Commission has revealed that the IP address, which it initially believed to be Chinese, is actually one used by NongHyup Bank for internal purposes, Reuters informs.

The address in question, a virtual IP, coincidentally matches an address registered in China.

Experts have never actually appointed China as being behind the attacks. On the other hand, they have pointed out that North Korea used Chinese IP addresses to launch cyberattacks against the country in the past.

In the meantime, experts have analyzed the piece of malware used to disrupt computing systems. However, no one has been able to tell for sure if the hackers of the Whois Team are involved in the attack or if they have simply defaced some websites, coincidentally at the same time.