Police halt scam that used N. Korea computers

SEOUL, South Korea — Computer networks at major South Korean banks and top TV broadcasters crashed en masse Wednesday, paralyzing bank machines across the country and prompting speculation of a cyberattack by North Korea. Screens went blank at 2 p.m., with reports of skulls popping up on some computer screens, the state-run Korea Information Security Agency said – a strong indication that hackers planted a malicious code in South Korean systems. Some computers came back online more than 2 1/2 hours later.

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.

North Korea on Friday accused the United States and South Korea of carrying out a "persistent and intensive" cyber attack against its official websites in recent days. A number of official North Korean websites, including those of the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the daily Rodong Sinmun newspaper, and Air Koryo airline became inaccessible early Wednesday.

North Korea on Friday accused the United States and South Korea of carrying out a "persistent and intensive" cyber attack against its official websites in recent days. A number of official North Korean websites, including those of the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the daily Rodong Sinmun newspaper, and Air Koryo airline became inaccessible early Wednesday.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The scandal shaking up South Korea's main spy agency is not cloak-and-dagger stuff, but the kind of low-grade trickery anyone with an Internet connection could pull off. And the target was not Seoul's opaque rival to the north, but the country's own people.

SEOUL, South Korea — Investigators have yet to pinpoint the culprit behind a synchronized cyberattack in South Korea last week. But in Seoul, the focus remains fixed on North Korea, where South Korean security experts say Pyongyang has been training a team of computer-savvy “cyber warriors” as cyberspace becomes a fertile battleground in the standoff between the two Koreas.

BEIJING — China’s military says a study accusing it of sponsoring massive hacking attacks on U.S. targets is deeply flawed. A statement from the Defense Ministry on Wednesday said the conclusions of the report by Virginia-based Mandiant were wrong because the addresses linking the attacks to a military facility in Shanghai could have been hijacked.

BEIJING — Chinese hackers repeatedly penetrated The New York Times‘ computer systems over the past four months, stealing reporters’ passwords and hunting for files on an investigation into the wealth amassed by the family of a top Chinese leader, the newspaper reported Thursday.