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Programmers accused of hacking 2.3 million IDs
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Programmers accused of hacking 2.3 million IDs
Programmers accused of hacking 2.3 million IDs
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http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2903657
By Park Yu-mi, Kim Mi-ju
JoongAng Daily
April 16, 2009
Two computer programmers were indicted yesterday on charges of hacking
into Web sites and obtaining personal data of 2.3 million persons and
using part of that information to post spam advertisements on Naver and
other Web sites.
According to investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors=E2=80=99
Office, the pair allegedly hacked into more than 100 Web sites from
January 2008 until February of this year.
They targeted Web sites for games, florists, real estate agencies and
used car dealerships that have vulnerable security systems.
=E2=80=9CThey developed their own computer program to sort out whether some of
the users=E2=80=99 stolen IDs and passwords collected from various Web sites
were identical to Naver IDs and passwords,=E2=80=9D said Roh Seung-kwon, the
prosecutor in charge of the case.
The suspects took advantage of the practice by some Internet users of
using the same ID and password to access different Web sites, he added.
Of the 2.3 million people whose personal information was hacked, some
150,000 had used the same ID and passwords on Naver, prosecutors said.
Investigators said the suspects used 90,000 of those accounts to post
gambling Web site advertisements at Naver=E2=80=99s Jisik-in. Jisik-in, Korean
for =E2=80=9Cknowledge person,=E2=80=9D is a knowledge pool created by all Naver users
where one user asks any question and whoever knows the answer responds.
This kind of data has been gathered for several years and the database
is full of answers, attracting many Koreans.
The hackers then used some 3,400 local computers to post mass questions,
answers and advertisements regarding a baccarat game on Jisik-in and
other sites.
They disguised malicious code as a movie or music player program and
posted it on the Internet. The code would secretly install itself on a
computer once it was clicked.
The =E2=80=9Cbotnet=E2=80=9D hacking tactic (a combination of =E2=80=9Crobot=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9Cnetwork=E2=80=9D),
also known as a =E2=80=9Czombie army,=E2=80=9D allowed the suspects to remotely control
3,400 computers, prosecutors said.
In return, the suspects received 130 million won ($97,232) from the
gambling site owner as a commission.
Prosecutors say they also sold information on 60,000 Naver users to a
personal information broker based in China for 10 million won.
=E2=80=9CThe prosecution notified Naver to send a notice to 90,000 users to
change their IDs and passwords that had been leaked,=E2=80=9D Roh said.
=E2=80=9CInternet users should use different passwords on Web sites. They also
need to change their passwords on a regular basis.=E2=80=9D
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