Hacker attacks on sharp rise I

　　(KMH)—Safeguards against hacker attacks are urgentl y needed, the Korea Information Security Agency (KISA) said.

　　The Ministry of Information and Communication-affil iated institute said there were a total of 1,858 cases of hacking detected in the nation as of November, more than triple the 572 cases found last year.

　　There were a mere 147 hacker attacks in 1996, and t he figure dropped to 64 in 1997. However, cyber crime b egan rising sharply again, with the figure climbing to 158 in 1998, and 572 last year.

　　KISA noted that corporations appear to be the main target for hacker attacks. Ninety-two, or 40.5 percent of 227 hacker attacks that occurred in November were ta rgeted against corporations, for example. "This is an i ndication that security systems at Korean corporations are frail and that companies lack mindset for security, " a KISA official said.