North Korea mounts long-running hack of South Korea computers, says Seoul

Foiled: The South Korean police agency's cyber investigation unit uncovered the hacking and worked with the companies and agencies affected to neutralise the malicious codes and prevent them from being used in a large-scale cyberattack, Yonhap said.

SEOUL: North Korea hacked into more than 140,000 computers at 160 South Korean firms and government agencies, planting malicious code under a long-term plan laying groundwork for a massive cyberattack against its rival, police in the South said. 

South Korea has been on heightened alert against cyberattacks by the North after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February that led to new UN sanctions.