Korea National Diplomatic Academy Suffers Nine-Month Hacking Breach Since Last Year; "Data Leak Details Unconfirmed"

It was belatedly revealed that the online education system of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had been subject to a hacking incident over approximately nine months starting from the first half of last year. However, the responsible party behind the hack and details of information leaked have yet to be identified.

Yonhap News Agency

On July 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "An unknown attacker exploited unpublished security (zero-day) vulnerabilities in the server software and insufficient system security configurations. After taking control of the server between April and May last year, it was found that the attacker continued to access the system until February this year." The Ministry further explained that in early February this year, the relevant authorities informed them of abnormal access to the system, prompting an emergency shutdown of the service and a joint investigation with related agencies. As a result, the hacking incident only came to light more than five months after the initial notification from the authorities.

Regarding this hacking attack, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs elaborated, "The attacker exploited a zero-day vulnerability that even the software manufacturer was unaware of at the time, and after gaining access, used legitimate software privileges. This made detection difficult using standard methods." They added, "At that point in time, there were no security updates available to address the issue, limiting our response options."

The online education system of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy stores training videos and information such as names and IDs of training participants. However, according to the Ministry, it is currently difficult to determine the specific details of any leaked information.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized, "The fact that cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and widespread is a grave concern," and added, "We will continue to strengthen our internal security and management measures in close cooperation with relevant agencies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.