S. Korea's spy agency detects malware infection in over 100 local IoT devices

(National Intelligence Service)

South Korea's state intelligence agency said Wednesday it has identified more than 100 sets of Internet of Things (IoT) equipment in the country that have been infected with malware.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it has detected the Mozi botnet infection after cooperating with Russian authorities in December last year. It has found a total of around 12,000 devices exposed to the malware in 72 countries.

The infected equipment, which can be used in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to disrupt server traffic, includes CCTVs, internet routers and digital video recorders, according to the agency.

The NIS said it warned companies and public institutions in South Korea about the malware early this month and that security measures are under way.

It added that it has shared information with the United States, Japan and some European Union member states, while offering relevant data to China, which accounted for 83 percent of the infected devices, to prevent further damage and identify the attacker. (Yonhap)