N. Koreans 'hack' South game sites

South Korean police said Thursday they have busted a criminal gang which used elite North Korean computer hackers to break into online game sites and steal prize points worth millions of dollars.The North has been accused of several cyber-attacks on the South in recent years, but this was the first reported case of hacking for profit. Police said some of the proceeds apparently went to the regime in Pyongyang.They said 17 South Koreans had stolen 6.4 billion won ($6.02 million) since June 2009 through the scam after hiring 30 North Korean hackers based in northeast China.

South Korean police said Friday they had arrested six people for hiring female North Korean refugees and ethnic Koreans in China to run sex websites frequented by hundreds of thousands of clients.Police in the southern city of Busan said the six had recruited 500 refugees and 500 ethnic Koreans in China to operate 70 sites, offering sex talk or nude shows, starting in April 2007.Police said 34 others were not detained but would stand trial on similar charges.

North Korea on Sunday lashed out at South Korea for accusing Pyongyang of hacking Seoul online game sites and stealing prize money, rejecting the allegations as an "unacceptable provocation."Seoul police said earlier this month they had busted a criminal gang which hired some 30 elite North Korean computer hackers to break into online game sites and steal prize points worth 6.4 billion won ($5.9 million).They said some of the proceeds for the hackers-- graduates of top colleges in Pyongyang and based in northeast China-- apparently went to the North's regime.

Life inside a communist country with a controlling dictator for a leader is not only suffocating and dangerous; it's also vastly different from life in developed countries elsewhere across the globe.

Skulls pop up on the screens of some computers — a strong indication that hackers planted a malicious code in systems Computer networks at two major South Korean banks and three top TV broadcasters went into shutdown mode en masse today, paralyzing bank machines across the country and prompting speculation of a cyberattack by North Korea.

South Korean activists launched thousands of anti-Pyongyang leaflets and Wikipedia-loaded USB keys across the border Wednesday, despite past North Korean threats to shell the "human scum" involved. Packages floated over the heavily-militarised border by balloon also contained 1,000 United States one dollar bills and DVDs detailing human rights abuses in the North.