US Army Space and Missile Defense Command Hacked
Date: May 25, 2004Source: Computer Crime Research Center
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Several computers of an army unit under the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command were hacked by an individual in a third country via a Korean firms' computers in mid-February: Korean police and their US counterpart started a joint investigation therein.
The US concluded that it was a serious case and hurriedly dispatched its investigators to Korea. The two countries began to find out a closely cooperative investigation system and have shared information to identify the hacker.
The US Army Space and Missile Defense Command is one of nine major joint forces commands under the Department of Defense and the core part that directs, controls and operates US state-of-the-art military sections, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, satellites and radar equipment.
The Cyber Terror Response Center of the Korea Police Agency said Friday that it instigated an investigation, as the US had notified that a third country's person had hacked into several computers of an army unit under the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command. It was revealed that the hacker used computer servers of two Korean companies, the center said.
The third country is another Asian nation, but the police agency has not revealed the name of the country, giving consideration to international relations. The hacker hacked into the computers of the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command via two Korean private firms located in Inchon and Daegu. The hacker used Korean computers by remote control in the third country to penetrate into the US computers. The hacking was possible because Korea's Internet network is the most highly developed in the world and has a close connection with the US, and Korean companies' computer networks are poorly managed due to firms' low security awareness.
A police investigator said that the two Korean firms did not realize their computers were hacked. The third country hacker showed high technical prowess by using two computers simultaneously to dodge police.
This person hacked into computers of 12 countries like Taiwan and Japan, except the US, by using Korean computers. The hacker explored target computers prior to hacking them 120,000 times alone, the police officer said.
Korea and the US have almost identified who the hacker is and are to ask the third country to cooperate in arresting the culprit.
The US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) and the Computer Crime Investigation Unit (CCIU) sent two army and navy investigators to Korea. They are sharing information and discussing the future direction of the investigation with Korean police.
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