Malicious code hit South Korean network systems

Some of the malicious code that paralyzed network systems at major South Korean banks and TV broadcasters last week originated from the United States and three European countries, police here said Monday.Local TV broadcasters KBS, MBC and YTN along with Shinhan, NongHyup and Jeju banks suffered a massive network failure on Wednesday that halted financial services and crippled operations.Private Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from the US and three European countries generated some of the malicious code, the National Police Agency (NPA) said but refused to disclose more details, according to (Yonhap) news agency.Following the incident, Seoul’s communications watchdog initially said a Chinese IP address accessed NongHyup’s update management server and generated malicious files, fueling speculations over North Korea’s involvement.The next day, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said it had mistaken a private IP address used by NongHyup as an IP address allocated to China.Investigators have requested that the four countries — the US and three nations in Europe — cooperate with the probe, according to sources at the NPA.