The lack of a coordinated response has often been cited as major problem in the government`s response to past rounds of large-scale cyber attacks that paralyzed government and corporate websites and computer networks.
"Chances are high that cyber attacks targeting public organizations and private firms will increase in the future," a Cheong Wa Dae official told Yonhap News Agency by phone.
"We need to realign the current system to handle the attacks in a swifter and more organized manner since there has been criticism that the presence of multiple organizations in charge of responding to cyber terrorism has triggered confusion."
Earlier this week, President Lee Myung-bak instructed related government offices to come up with measures to prevent recurrence of large-scale cyber attacks like one that paralyzed the banking network of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, known as Nonghyup, in April, according to aides.
Cheong Wa Dae will announce a master plan for responding to cyber terrorism as early as this weekend in response to the president`s call, the official said.
The master plan will be centered on clarifying the different roles of each government office concerned with the matter and building an integrated organization that will serve as a "control tower" of the government response in the long term, he said.
Measures to protect private businesses from such attacks will also be included in the plan, the official added.
South Korean prosecutors blamed North Korea`s military intelligence organization for the Nonghyup attacks that disabled nearly 30 million customers from conducting financial transactions for days.
Seoul has also accused Pyongyang of staging the cyber attacks on the websites of major South Korean government agencies and financial institutions in March this year and in July 2009.
Pyongyang rejected those allegations, accusing Seoul of inventing the charges to raise tensions.
The government`s response to cyber terrorism is currently shared by the home affairs ministry, the state intelligence agency, the Korea Communications Commission, the Korea Internet Security Agency and the cyber-terrorism response center of the National Police Agency.
The Knowledge Economy Ministry oversees the Web security industry.
(T.A045/H-AK)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
