Kim Jong Un trying to steal South Koreans' data? With ‘sophisticated' methods

North Korea previously attempted to steal South Korean IDs and passwords as well.

North Korea created a fake version of Naver- South Korea's largest internet portal, Seoul's spy agency revealed. This was part of a sophisticated phishing attack designed by Pyongyang to get personal information on South Koreans, it added.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (AP)

Naver's services include Google-like maps, financial services similar to Apple Pay are used daily by many Koreans. It is one of South Korea's biggest tech companies. South Korea's National Intelligence Service said that North Korea created a phishing site that replicated Naver's main page called naverportal.com through which it hacked South Koreans' Naver IDs and passwords, getting access to valuable personal data.

"As North Korea's hacking attack methods against our people are becoming more sophisticated, we ask people to be extra vigilant," NIS said. Measures have been taken to block the phishing site from South Korean users, it added, warning users, “Please cease accessing it immediately if you spot a page that's not a standard Naver access domain URL.”

North Korea previously attempted to steal South Korean IDs and passwords by duplicating Naver's log-in page as well. But "the North has upgraded its attack scheme in order to better extort private information," the agency said, adding, "We are tracking the activities of the hacking group in cooperation with foreign agencies as the server is located overseas."

Naver warned users to continue to exercise caution, saying, “We urge users to check if the address is the right one and pay extra attention when accessing Naver.”