[NewsSpace=JeongYoung kim] Hyundai Heavy Industries and Dong Sung Group, two major conglomerates in South Korea, have reportedly fallen victim to a ransomware attack, according to exclusive report.

Ransomware is a combination of ransom and software, and is a type of virus that encrypts a user's computer data and then demands money and valuables in return for normal operation.

The security industry analyzes that ransomware attacks have recently been concentrated in the manufacturing industry. Due to the nature of the industry, temporary production stoppages can also cause great damage, and global supply chains have become vulnerable due to changes in the international situation, creating conditions to maximize the effect of the attack.

According to the shipbuilding industry on the 4th, Hyundai Heavy Industries recently issued a warning to its executives and employees, saying that some computers in the company have been infected with new ransomware.

The damage occurred when some executives and employees accessed fake sites created by hackers while searching portal sites. Hyundai Heavy Industries immediately formatted the infected PC and checked all connected PCs for infection. Since then, Hyundai Heavy Industries has urged executives and employees to refrain from accessing websites unrelated to their work and to thoroughly check the site address. It also emphasized preventive measures to prevent ransomware infection, such as deleting e-mails with unknown sources immediately.

Dongsung Group, which includes Dongsung Intec, a shipbuilding equipment company that oligopolistically supplies cooling materials for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo hold to large Korean shipbuilders, also suffered ransomware damage. Because of this, some companies almost failed to meet the deadline for submitting legal business reports.

Dongsung Chemical announced on the 23rd that it had reported an extension of the business report submission deadline. The deadline scheduled for the 31st was extended to the 7th of this month. It was a preliminary measure taken for fear that the submission of audit data would be delayed due to ransomware last year.

Fortunately, some damage recovery was made and the company actively responded, and the business report was submitted within the deadline. The company reportedly did not respond to hackers' requests for money and valuables. Dongsung Hwa Intec also reported an extension of the business report submission deadline, but submitted the report at the deadline.

Ransomware damage reports are increasing significantly. According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the number of ransomware damage reports filed with KISA increased from 22 in 2018 to 325 in 2022.

In its latest annual report (X-Force Threat Intelligence Index), IBM's security division analyzed that there were the most attacks targeting manufacturing in the Asia-Pacific region. This was about 2.5 times larger than the financial and insurance sectors, the second most aggressive sector.