Two South Korean media outlets, KBS and the Chosun Ilbo, are reporting the government says it has traced “hackers” back to a server operating in North Korea.

KBS says:

A government official says North Korea has attempted to hack information on South Korea’s water supply and drainage systems.

The Chosun Ilbo provides a little more detail:

Evidence points to North Korean hackers attempting to gather information about water supply and drainage systems, pathways of toxic materials, and traffic control near the venue of the G20 Summit in Seoul, according to the Cyber Terror Response Center of the National Police Agency.

But both reports failed to mention what kind of “hacking” was detected, if it was successful, if the government provided any evidence to back up this claim, and how the attempts were traced back to North Korea.

Last year lawmakers pointed the finger of blame at North Korea for a denial-of-service attack on several prominent South Korean commercial and government Websites. At the time no evidence was offered to back up the claim and a recent AP report said no evidence to support a link with North Korea has been found.

Nevertheless, many analysts do assume that the North Korean government, like many governments, runs a computer hacking team that attempts to penetrate foreign Websites and gather intelligence information.

Full story: KBS World , Chosun Ilbo