South Korea conducts nuclear drill after hack attack

The operator of South Korea's nuclear power plants will conduct cyber attack drills after hackers published stolen blueprints of its facilities online and warned people to "stay away" from the country's main reactors.

Designs and information about plant equipment owned by Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co (KHNP) were released on the internet last week by an unknown person or group, along with demands for three reactors to be shut down and a veiled warning. But the South Korean government insists that only "non-critical" data has been stolen.

What information has been published?

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On Friday, the blueprints of several nuclear reactors appeared on social media. Publication of information on South Korea's nuclear power plants began on 15 December, the BBC reports. Previous posts included personal information about employees, details of how the plants' cooling and air conditioning systems function and a radiation report.

How dangerous is the latest post?

Seoul insisted this morning that only "non-critical" information had been stolen by hackers. According to the government, there is no risk to the safety of the country's nuclear installations which include 23 atomic reactors.

South Korea's energy ministry said in a statement that it was confident that it could resist any attempt to mount a cyber attack on any one of its reactors.

"It is our judgement that the control system itself is designed in such a way and there is no risk whatsoever," Chung Yang-ho, deputy energy minister, told Reuters.

Who was behind the attack?

Information is being posted online from an account named "president of the anti-nuclear reactor group", but the identity of the hacker or hackers is not yet known.

The infiltration comes following a devastating cyber attack on Sony pictures in the United States. The FBI said on Friday that it now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government was behind the hack.

Officials at KHNP said that the latest assault appeared to be by "elements who want to cause social unrest", however, neither the KHNP official nor Chung mentioned the involvement of North Korea.

What happens next?

The social media account that has been leaking the documents says more information stolen from the nuclear operator will be posted if the reactors are not closed by Christmas. If they are not shut down, the account warned that people should "stay away" from them.

Seoul prosecutors have launched a criminal probe into the leak and have traced the stolen documents to an individual in a southern city. He claims that he has no knowledge of the postings and that his account and user ID were stolen.