A wave of cyber attacks aimed at numerous American and South Korean government agencies and commercial web sites temporarily jammed some sites on Thursday (July 9).
The impact of the attacks, aimed so far at dozens of sites including the White House and the South's presidential office, was seen as negligible, experts said, but served as a reminder that Pyongyang has been planning for cyber warfare.

In Washington, U.S. government officials said all federal websites were up and running and there was no impact from any new attacks on Thursday.

"There's not a high volume of attacks but we are still concerned about it. They are continuing and we are taking measures to deal with this and any potential new attacks and anything we're doing to protect the integrity of our sites is being done in coordination among the government," said Ian Kelly, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said.

South Korea's spy agency has said the hacking may be linked to North Korea.

But the U.S. government would not speculate who might be behind the attacks.

"I have no information that I have of North Korean involvement. I have nothing that I can confirm," said Kelly.

If the North was responsible, it would mark an escalation in tension already high from Pyongyang's nuclear test in May, a barrage of ballistic missiles in July and repeated taunts of long-time foes Seoul and Washington in its official media.

"If it's North Korea, then it would show they have cyber ambitions and we should be a little bit concerned about that because if this is their first baby step what is going to come next. On the other hand we shouldn't overplay it, this is political graffiti," said Rod Beckstrom, a former U.S, cyber security chief, who is now CEO of international corporation for assigned names and numbers.

But some analysts questioned the North's involvement, saying it may be the work of industrial spies or pranksters.

One online expert was quoted as telling a South Korean daily that tracking the spread of the malicious software showed it had originated from an IP address based in United States.

The attacks will likely be regarded by the North's leadership as a victory for Kim Jong-il -- even if Pyongyang was not behind them -- because they hurt the country's traditional foes, adding a new dimension to the threat level posed by the reclusive state.

The attacks saturated target websites with access requests generated by malicious software planted on personal computers. This has overwhelmed some targeted sites and slowed server response to legitimate traffic.

The attacks did not lead to a breach of sensitive government material or damage online infrastructure in South Korea, the world's most wired country, government officials said.

But Beckstrom said national security is definitely at risk.

"If you're a small nation and you want to take on a super power like America or some of the European nations, then cyber's your way to do it. You're not going to be able to do it with jets or tanks or even missiles," he added.

But the National Intelligence Service said in a statement it was stepping up alert to monitor potential attacks against the network of energy and communications facilities.

Internet access is denied to almost everyone in hermit North Korea, but intelligence sources said Pyongyang had placed a high priority on developing cyber attack skills.

Last month, the North warned of "high-tech war" against the South for spreading what it said was false information about its involvement in cyber attacks.

Source REUTERS