S Korea warns PCs Could Be Hit Next in Web Attack

Take this with a grain of salt but since Soutn Korea is the epicenter for the recent spate of Internet attacks we should at least note that officials there are warning that regulr PC users may be next to be hot.

They claim that the recent cyber attacks that have slowed U.S. and South Korean websites could enter a new phase on Friday by attacking personal computers and wiping out hard disks. This is coming from a South Korean government agency and web security firm.

North Korea was originally a prime suspect for launching the cyber attacks, but the isolated state was not named on a list of websites from five countries where the attacks may have originated, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said.

The attacks targeting dozens of government and business sites in South Korea and the United States did not cause major damage or security breaches, experts said, but the KCC warned a new phase at 1500 GMT on Friday could cause severe damage to PCs.

Leading South Korean web security firm Ahnlab, which has closely examined the attacks, said the new phase would target data on tens of thousands of infected personal computers.

“The affected computers will not be able to boot and their storage files will be disabled,” said Lee Byung-cheol of Ahnlab.

via PCs Could Be Hit Next in Web Attack: South Korea – ABC News.