South Korea to train 3,000 cyber sheriffs

South Korea plans to train 3,000 "cyber sheriffs" by next year to protect businesses after a spate of attacks on state and private websites, a report said today.

South Korea plans to train 3,000 "cyber sheriffs" by next year to protect businesses after a spate of attacks on state and private websites, a report said today.

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The "cyber sheriffs" would be tasked with "protecting corporate information and preventing the leaks of industrial secrets," Yonhap news agency said.

In the event of cyber attacks, the National Intelligence Service, the country's main spy agency, would set up a taskforce including civilian and government experts to counter the online threats, it added.

The country already has a military cyber unit.

S Korean and US government and private websites came under sustained attack in July designed to swamp and paralyse operations.

Seoul suspected North Korea was behind the attacks, which targeted a number of websites including that of South Korea's presidential office, defence ministry, parliament and banks.