Hacker group threatens to launch cyberattack against S. Korean banks

SEOUL, June 21 (Yonhap) -- A hacker group has threatened to launch a distributed denial-of-service attack against seven South Korean banks unless they pay about 360 million won (US$315,000) in the virtual currency bitcoin, banks and South Korea's financial authorities said Wednesday.

The Armada Collective issued the warning to KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, KEB Hana Bank, NH Bank and two other lenders, demanding the banks pay the money by Monday.

An official of South Korea's financial authorities said it remains to be seen whether the hacker group will follow through on its threat.

The latest warning has prompted the banks to strengthen their security systems to thwart any possible cyberattacks that could overwhelm their Web sites.

A DDoS attack refers to a situation in which a multitude of infected computers are directed to try to communicate with a single other computer, overwhelming its connection bandwidth and crowding out legitimate users from access to the site.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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