North Korea attempted to hack into South Koreans' smartphones by spreading malicious applications online, possibly infecting more than 20,000 smartphones, Seoul's spy agency said Wednesday, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The malicious applications, disguised as games, were spread on South Korean websites between May 19 and September 16, according to a report submitted to the parliamentary intelligence committee by the National Intelligence Service.
The spy agency estimated that more than 20,000 smartphones in South Korea may have been infected by the applications. The agency worked with the websites' owners and the government to remove the applications blocks relevant hacking channels and update computer vaccines. North Korea is known to operate a wide network of elite hackers from within and outside its borders to conduct cyber-attacks on the websites of South Korean government offices, banks and media outlets, the report said.
In July, military sources said that the communist state appears to have doubled its number of elite hackers over the past two years to 5,900 personnel.