South Korea raises its cybersecurity alert level

On 9 March 2022, in South Korea, the conservative Yoon Seok-youl won the presidential election, beating his rival, the left-wing populist Lee Jae-myung. Yoon Seok-youl will succeed his predecessor Moon Jae-in on 10 May 2022.

The country has thus entered a period of presidential transition, which is conducive to cyberattacks. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has assessed the risk of hackers attempting to steal the political documents of the next government as « high. » The NIS also fears cyber retaliation following the Korean government’s sanctions against Russia.

For all these reasons, the Korean authorities have decided to raise their cybersecurity alert level. On 21 March 2022, the Ministry of Defence raised its « cyberspace protection condition » by one notch, to level 3 out of 5. At the same time, the NIS raised its security alert to level 2 out of 4.