South Korea again hit by cyber-attacks, as search for hackers intensifies

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told the Washington Times Thursday that North Korea was likely behind the recent cyber attacks. The appropriate response, he said, would be a "show of force or strength," adding that the administration's approach on "rogue nations" such as Iran and North Korea is not working.

"All of these folks believe that through the power of their personality or persuasion they can bring these irrational players to the negotiating table to do rational things," Hoekstra said. "And they're just wrong."

Analyst Rodger Baker told Reuters that the date of the attacks is close to the anniversary of the death of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung, "which might lend some credence to speculation that the country was behind the attacks."

Others have responded with more equanimity. Several analysts quoted by Reuters said the cyber-assault may simply have been the work of pranksters, or hackers looking for financial reward.

In the blogosphere, a range of responses

"Whoever is behind this," Stephen Wildstrom of Business Week writes today, "it is disturbing to learn that a number of government agencies are still vulnerable even to a relatively unsophisticated attack, one that most Web-savvy businesses have long since learned to deal with."

In a short reported piece for the National Journal, John Maggs wrote, "This week's crude and fairly ineffective attacks on U.S. and South Korean Web sites were a minor event, network experts said, but could represent a warning shot portending much more serious threats to worldwide communications and commerce on the Internet."

At CrunchGear, Nicholas Deleon urged media around the world to take a more measured response to the attacks. "Even if there was some sort of coordinated cyber attack, how is that different from your everyday cyberattack?," Deleon wrote. "Quoth the Department of Homeland Security spokesman, 'The US sees attacks on its networks every day, and measures have been put in place to minimize the impact on federal Web sites.' No need to jump in your fallout shelter just yet."

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