Korea National Diplomatic Academy Online Education System Hacked, Access Suspended

The Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been found to have been compromised by a long-term hacking attack.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on July 20 that it "urgently suspended the KNDA's online education system after being notified by relevant agencies of abnormal access to the system in early February of this year."

According to the investigation, an unidentified attacker exploited an undisclosed security vulnerability (zero-day vulnerability) in the server software and weaknesses in system security configurations. The attacker gained control of the server between April and May of last year and used it to maintain access until February of this year.

The hacking incident continued for nine months.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "This attack was difficult to detect through conventional methods because the attacker used a zero-day vulnerability that even the software manufacturer was unaware of at the time, and subsequently utilized legitimate software privileges. There were limitations in responding as no security updates were available to address the issue at that point."

The compromised online education system server reportedly contained educational videos and the names and user IDs of those enrolled in the training programs.

The ministry stated, "At this moment, it is difficult to specify the exact details of the data that may have been leaked."

An official stated that the system has remained suspended since February, when the hacking was first detected, and that investigations are ongoing.

(Photo: Captured from Korea National Diplomatic Academy Twitter, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.