South Korean law enforcement officials said North Korea has hacked into more than 100,000 computers in the south since 2014.
This long-form cyberattack involves 140,000 computers located in 160 companies was first discovered in February 2016 after North Korea managed to break into and steal defense-related material from two large South Korean corporations, Reuters said.
South Korea believes the hacked computers could also have been part of a larger plan by the North to eventually stage a nationwide cyber attack against the South.
“The hackers took no action after gaining control of servers and computers at some corporate groups and waited, as they continued to hack into more targets in what police said was likely an effort to build the scale of a planned attack,” Reuters said.