Several banks are among the victims of a spate of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in South Korea that have also hit government Web sites.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) says seven bank Web sites, including those of Kookmin, Woori and Shinhan, were among a total of 40 victims. Sites belonging to the office of the President, the foreign affairs and defence ministries, and the parliament were all affected.
With local anti-virus AhnLab cautioning against another possible DDoS attack, the government has issued a cyber-security alert.
In 2009 South Korean and US Web sites, such as the New York Stock Exchange's, were hit by similar DDoS attacks. South Korean intelligence officials believed North Korean or pro-Pyongyang forces were behind the strike although US officials reached no conclusion.