PC hacking on the rise

Prying eyes have invaded home personal computers, previously thought to be safe, and various accounts and passwords kept within personal computers are being laid open to the invaders.

According to Internet-related agencies including the Information Protection Center on Wednesday, hackers, who have generally targeted mainframes of businesses or government agencies, have not turned their attention to the home personal computers. Rather, with 100 or so hacking programs designed to target personal computers widely available through the Internet, many hacker wannabes have gone on a rampage by hacking any and all personal computers without purpose other than for kicks.

Many have turned their attention to the account names and passwords to many online games or other Internet services requiring fees, using them without discretion and to the detriment of the hacked. In some cases, hacked accounts have racked up over 1 million won in service fees. In other cases, a number of hackers posted the IDs and passwords that they hacked on the Internet, showing a level of moral turpitude.

According to an analysis of 1,640 cases of hacking reported to the Information Protection Agency between April and August last year, 69.8 percent of the hacking that occurred targeted personal computers.

Until now, personal computer hacking had not been formally recognized as a major social issue. Prior to 1999, reports of personal computers being hacked simply did not exist, and the issue was not considered separately from the generally high-profile hacking cases.

It has been further determined that the instances of hacking were most common for those using the high-speed cable Internet connections.