http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/12/18/2009121800317.html 

The Chosun Ilbo
Dec. 18, 2009

Suspected North Korean hackers may have gained access to a war plan 
devised by South Korea and the U.S. in preparation for an emergency, 
including details of specific operational scenarios, intelligence 
agencies believe.

According to the January issue of the Monthly Chosun published Friday, 
the National Intelligence Service and the Defense Security Command in 
mid-November discovered that an officer with the Korea-U.S. Combined 
Forces Command had used an unsecured USB memory stick and in that 
process some contents of the plan, dubbed OPLAN 5027, contained in his 
PC was accessed by a hacker with a Chinese IP address.

The DSC carried out sweeping security checks after the Monthly Chosun 
reported in November that the military Internet network had been 
breached by a North Korean hacking unit, and that in the process the 
agency confirmed that OPLAN 5027 had been hacked.

The monthly in November reported that North Korean hackers stole 
information from the Chemical Accidents Response Information System 
built by the National Institute of Environmental Research under the 
Ministry of Environment after infiltrating the Third Army headquarters' 
computer network and using a password to access CARIS's Center for 
Chemical Safety Management.

OPLAN 5027 is the CFC plan formulated in preparation for a preemptive 
strike or provocation by North Korea. Commander of the U.S. Forces Korea 
Gen. Walter Sharp has recently said a new joint draft operational plan 
has been worked out to replace OPLAN 5027 ahead of the transfer of full 
operational control of Korean troops to Seoul. But one retired general 
pointed out that the new joint operational plan will be based on OPLAN 
5027. "Our conceptual framework has been laid bare if it's true that 
OPLAN 5027 was leaked," he said.

Based on No. 110 Research Center under the North Korean Army General 
Staff's Reconnaissance Bureau, the North Korean hacking unit has an 
impressive staff, range of operations, technologies, and overseas 
branches. There is speculation that 500-600 hackers are working in North 
Korea, including the Ministry of State Security.

Kim Heung-kwang, a former professor at Pyongyang Computer Technology 
University, said, "We have information that the North Korean hacking 
unit will soon attack the computer network in South Korea, which could 
throw databases of financial institutions, the Military Manpower 
Administration and hospitals and other institutions into chaos."


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