South Korea says North Korea has 6,000 cyber attack specialists

South Korea says North Korea has 6,000 cyber attack specialists
(Image credit: iStock)

On Tuesday, the South Korean Defense Ministry released a report stating that North Korea has a 6,000-member cyber army with one purpose: To "paralyze the South psychologically and materially."

Earlier estimates placed the number of specialists at 3,000, The Associated Press says. The report states that several cyber attacks have been conducted against South Korea's military operations and main government systems, but didn't elaborate on how the attacks were discovered.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.