2018-11-01
BaeSystems
Now you see it, now you don't: wipers in the wild
#DarkSeoul
#Wiper
#Youtube
3.20 Cyber Terror
#DarkSeoul
- Reported: 2013-03
- Locations: Korea, Republic of
- Motivations: #Destruction
- Sectors: #Finance #Media
Summary
The “Whois Team” attacks against South Korean targets in March 2013 involved coordinated cyberattacks on banks and broadcasting companies, where systems were disrupted and in some cases rendered unusable, accompanied by website defacements and propaganda messages left by the attackers; the operation leveraged wiper-type malware designed to destroy data and disable machines, causing large-scale service outages (e.g., banking systems and media networks going offline simultaneously), and although the attacks appeared highly visible and targeted critical infrastructure—leading to classification as cyber-terrorism—analysis suggested the tools were relatively unsophisticated and attribution remained unclear, with uncertainty over whether it was a nation-state operation or hacktivist activity, highlighting an early example of destructive malware campaigns aimed at maximizing disruption rather than stealth or data theft.