The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Cyber attack hits U.S.-based N.K. rights group

By Korea Herald

Published : March 21, 2013 - 19:53

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WASHINGTON (AFP) ― A U.S.-based group monitoring human rights in North Korea said Wednesday it was hit by a cyber attack that disabled its website for several hours.

The incident at the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea occurred at the same time as a major attack targeting South Korean TV broadcasters and banks.

Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the group, said he learned early Wednesday about the attack, which changed the welcome page to identify the site as “Hitman 007 ― Kingdom of Morocco.”

“Our website had indeed been hacked, and a lot of our publications had been taken out. Fortunately we were able to work with the hosting company from the backup to fully restore the website.”

Scarlatoiu said he had no information on the origin of the attack but that “all circumstantial evidence” points to North Korea.

“We deal 100 percent with North Korea human rights,” he told AFP. “We don’t deal with the Middle East, we don’t deal with other regions.”

Additionally, he said the attack occurred at the same time as entities in South Korea were hit. He noted that the attackers removed reports highlighting rights abuses in the North, including the increase in population of a political prison camp.